Groundpounder

The Immigration help line informed me that all Bangkok 90-day reporting is now being done at the Muang Thong Thani office (despite the fact that the main Immigration website still directs you to Changwattana).  All very efficient at MTT with the time-slot booking, but of course still needed the long taxi ride into the boonies.  When I asked why the online system was rejecting me at the very first page, the supervisor told me "Unstable computer system because of many Covid overstayers"  Hmm.

No luck for me with the online system, despite previous success.  When entering my details on Page 1, I get the dreaded "For further information regarding The 90-day Notification Report Service, please contact the Immigration Branch Office in your residence area."  As usual, no explanation on why I was rejected.  (I had renewed my passport since entering Thailand, and had to do a personal visit for my last 90-day report to update my data. The officer said that everything was fine, and I could renew online.  Not so!)

Are 90-day reports being done at Chaengwattana, or do I have to go to the temporary Immigration office near the Impact Arena?

I went today to Chaeng Wattana to do my 90-day report, and was told I had to go to the Temporary Visa Extension Center near the Impact Arena.  They gave me an incomprehensible map that was refused by two taxi drivers, but the third one was happy to take me.  Luckily, the map has a QR code that gives the Google Map location.  BUT, the route Google calculates is incorrect since final legs are closed off.  The correct routing is given in the attached map (follow the green line).  BTW, I had missed the 31 August deadline for reporting, but nothing was said, and no fine was levied.  It could be that Immigration figured out that the 31 August deadline for 90-day reporting was insufficiently well publicized, and so are waiving any penalties - at least for now.

I procrastinated over submitting my online application until the last day, before realizing I had miscalculated by a day and so just missed the 14-7 window.  Had I used this excellent little Android app, I wouldn't have made that mistake.  It does all the date calcs for you for postal, online and in-person visits.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bangkokhasyou.ninetydays

Hmm - I tried just entering the personal details first, and it didn't work for.  When I also entered the TRN number, that worked fine, so I assumed that both were required.  Perhaps I entered one tiny detail wrong in the personal data tab (though there's little room for error) - another 'tripwire' perhaps?

On 8/14/2018 at 8:42 PM, NancyL said:

Ah, but have you received the acceptance notice AND have you been able to print out your notice to put into your passport?  Last time I did Hubby's 90 day report online we got so far that he got the email notice from Imm. that his report had been accepted (like 4 days later) but whenever I went to try to print the receipt for the passport, I received a message (in Thai) that they couldn't find the record.

 

His next report is due on Monday, so I'm going out to Imm. Prom. in person to inquire.  Haven't been there in a while.

If Immigration has given you a multi-digit TRN number and bar-code, and if that isn't working properly in retrieving your approved TM-47, I would suspect that the cause might be an improperly entered TRN number (though I'm sure you've entered it multiple times), because that TRN number is surely in their computer.  It seems to me that the system is basically sound, it's just that the data entry interface has been poorly coded.

The problem is that you cannot copy and paste the number from the PDF that Immigration sent you to make sure that you are inputting an exact copy of the number.  Therefore, I used a Optical Character Recognition program to turn this form into recognizable text that I just then copied and pasted the TRN number into one of the two fields needed to retrieve my approved form.

An alternative way would be to read the bar code on your mobile phone using an appropriate app, and then email it to yourself.  Then you can simply cut-and-paste the number into the form.

Worth a try, I reckon....

My approval came through about 7 hours after submittal.  No problems in retrieving and printing the approved form (the same form that they provided on successful application, except that the inclined yellow 'Pending' stamp in the top right corner is changed to a green 'Approved' stamp).  I filled in both tabs and the process worked flawlessly.

Overall, the system works - it's just that the coding for the application is crude and amateurish and needs improvement - users shouldn't have to figure out the multiple tripwires created by clumsy coding.  There are plenty of very smart Thai computer whizzes in the private sector who could easily fix the glitches without breaking a sweat.  But once you've figured out how to make the system work, it's literally just a few minutes on your computer every 90 days after that.  Hardly a big deal, and much easier than travelling to Chaeng Wattana (if you're in BKK), getting ticket number 291 for the queue, and then realizing that number 126 is showing on the red LED display!  See attachment.

Managed to submit the online 90-day reporting online form OK, but not after a few pitfalls.  So I thought I'd post my problems, and their solutions, to assist others.  3 pages need to be filled in to get to the final 4th page, and each gave me problems, as follows:

BROWSER:  FIREFOX

Page 1:  I had my flight filled in as 'TG 911'.  It seems that the space caused the rejection, and I kept getting the standard 'contact immigration' message.  However, changing the flight to 'TG911' (no space) magically unblocked the process, moving me to page 2.

Page 2:  This time I kept getting another error message - but Immigration had now switched to Thai, the crafty fellows - see attachment.  It states that it cannot use the email address provided, even though each one of the half-dozen emails I gave them was valid.  Out of desperation I dug up an old Yahoo.com email address that I haven't used for years.  Success!  On to Page 3.

Page 3:  This showed the various fields that I had filled in during the session (e.g. surname), but each had a dash next to them.  I figured that this simply showed that I had provided the data.  Nothing else to do on Page 3 except check the box and press Accept.  Big problem - it simply returned me to the Page 3 form, box unchecked.  I also had the option of going back, but that didn't help, given that the site had already accepted my information.  Now I was stuck.

BROWSER: CHROME:

The only thing to do was to switch browsers.  I fired up Chrome, and went through the whole process from scratch - not a big deal, since I had already identified the tripwires.  This time, when I went to Page 3, all my details were shown in the form, instead of the dashes.  And of course then the 'Accept' button worked.  Seems it's a Firefox thing.

So I agree with the advice others have provided - just be patient and don't give up, and don't use Firefox.  And once you've identified the tripwires, the next 90-day submission should be a breeze.  Good luck!

I worked with Max at Mae Moh during the mid 1980s, but lost touch with him around 15 years ago.

By an incredible coincidence, I found an old (20 years) business card for Max today and on an offchance, Googled his name, and found your sad post. What were the circumstances of his death? (if it's something that you can report on an open forum). Otherwise, I wouldn't mind receiving a PM.

RIP Max

I want to base myself in Thailand, setting up a home here, while I do freelance work outside the country. My plan is to eventually retire here, but not for another decade.

Can I ship in a 20 ft container of personal effects (books, furniture, computer etc.) without having any residency rights in Thailand?

I’m a 52-year-old geological engineer with dual Canadian and British nationality. I’ve just completed a 4-year contract in Taiwan, and my personal effects (papers, books, furniture, electrical goods etc.) are packed away in a 20-foot container awaiting a shipping address.

However, one of the two overseas (i.e. outside Thailand) job prospects that I was hoping for has just fallen through, and the other one is by no means guaranteed.

I’m no stranger to Thailand, having worked here in the mid 1980’s, and visited frequently ever since, albeit for stays of a week or two. But last year, I purchased some land in Chiangmai through a lifelong Thai friend, and intend to build a retirement home on it, though I have no intention of retiring for at least another decade.

However, should my second job prospect drop through, I would like to base myself in Thailand, ship in my personal effects, and establish a home here. I would then freelance overseas within my profession, using Thailand as my base, but not working here unless a bona fide opportunity presented itself here (Hey – I can dream!)

My question is: How do I go about getting Thai customs to clear my shipment when (a) I am not marrying a Thai, ( am not starting work here, and © am nowhere near ready to retire. Any advice on what visa to obtain, and how to go about this operation would be most appreciated. (I’m currently here on an entry permit, but appreciate that I would probably need a visa to expedite this.)