BlueEasySleep

would suggest you live in laos, malaysia or cambodia and visit thailand to stock up on medication when necessary

Many farangs have abused the system over the years.

Not sure I understand all the "abused the system" comments.

That would imply that farangs as a whole take more money out of the system than they put in.

Which is extremely false.

Is LP still open until 6:30PM on weekdays?

question about the mailing:

Does that mean send it by mail 15 days before, or it should arrive at Chaeng Wattana 15 days before?

And what if you only put a regular 5 baht stamp on your envelope and not a 10 baht stamp? Is the whole thing not going to work?

Not all, but many will be studying to meet the MOE requirements and work legitimately in Thailand at a later date. To get on their backs seems harsh, but it is what it is. First we had degrees (apart from an Education degree) not being applicalble for Work Permits when waivers end. Many weren't aware of this as they didn't look on sites like this or their school/Moe/Imm never told them.

Is this still true?

I'm getting a degree.

Good, you should be happy about the big savings you're making compared to higher education in a western country.

I am. But unhappy about the lower quality of education.

I've paid more to my school than the elite card costs. You'd think I could get in the country without hassle.

Really? 1 yr school for ED visa can be less than 25K Bt. Elite card start 500K for 5 Yrs, that is 4 times more expensive.

I'm getting a degree.

I've paid more to my school than the elite card costs. You'd think I could get in the country without hassle.

3rd time I'm saying this:

I re-entered the country recently with a valid ED visa from a government university and had a problem.

He accused me of working and demanded I show my university ID card. Then passed me on to a supervisor for greater scrutiny.

Did you have a new single entry non-ed visa you had just gotten at an embassy or consulate?

Or did you have a multiple entry non-ed visa?

Or did you have an extension of stay from immigration?

There have been reports in the past of people being questioned when they had a multiple entry ED visa.

Single one year entry. Re-entry stamp. I was flying back after being in Europe for 3 weeks.

If person has been here on a non-b visa or extensions of stay they will be able to still get a a new exempt entry at a border crossing. There are not doing away with all visa exempt entries.

The "crackdown" is for border runners that are trying to stay here full time on exempt entries.

Cheers Joe. I bow down to your superior knowledge. However, I have heard of problems with non B visa runs? Any truth in that?

The only thing I have read was at one crossing from Malaysia when people were asked to show money.

If you have valid visa you will not have a problem entering the country.

3rd time I'm saying this:

I re-entered the country recently with a valid ED visa from a government university and had a problem.

He accused me of working and demanded I show my university ID card. Then passed me on to a supervisor for greater scrutiny.

I'm starting to get the hint. I have no issue with stopping border jumpers/deadbeats giving all foreigners a bad name. I just think this hasn't been thought through properly. Or perhaps it has and they just want all of us gone. Example? Let's say you jumped through all of the hoops and get yourself a BA in Education/PGCE/M.Ed (coming next surely). You breathe a sigh of relief. You're good for as long as you like, surely? However, your new boss is an <deleted>. Or the school closes. Whatever. You get a new job offer at another school.

I'm not 100% sure, but it seems the only option of a border run (to cancel visa/work permit in order to get a new one when you re-enter) may be out of the question. Anyone that has taught and changed jobs has had to do this. It is 'technically' possible to change schools without leaving on a WP, but almost impossible in reality. Perhaps I'm wrong and they would allow a visa run if you hadn't done one for years? However, going into Cambodia/Laos or wherever for half an hour may see you refused entry. And Thailand would lose a good teacher. If that were to be the case, they don't deserve them.

Thailand could easily fix this by allowing a transfer of employer on a work permit. There are reasons they won't do this even for those well qualified. They want you to try it out for a few years at the same school and bugger off.

Are Thailand just telling us all to go away without actually saying it, which is typically Thai? To those sneering in a bucket of smugness...you could be next.

Yes this is my point.

If you try to re-enter Thailand on a tourist visa or visa exempt while having a previous non-B working visa in your passport, you're going to be accused at passport control of coming back to Thailand to work illegally.

If you were working a few days ago, why do you have a tourist visa now? You're not a tourist.

This may deny re-entry to people legitimately working who are changing jobs but whose new job hasn't had enough time to sort out their paperwork yet. Or people who want to quit a job and interview to find a new one. Or maybe your visa ends April 2 but you can't get a new non-B until your new school opens in mid May.

Over the next year there may be 200,000 english teachers streaming across the border into cambodia carrying satchels filled with dry erase markers.

Desirable long term guests in any country should be:

1. Those who have expertise in business/science/etc and can fill positions of professional need. This would include English teachers.

2. Those who have money and want to spend it, regardless of their age. This would include those who spend money on education.

agree but i fail to see your point?

1 is welcome but must apply for work permit

2 is welcome but must apply for ED visa

2 is not welcome unless they are 50.

They could make the same bank requirements for under 50s as they do for over 50s. I don't see that as making any sense.

They have decided that they will welcome retirees who have enough pension income or savings to live here, as a retiree.

It is perhaps hard for them to grasp that there may be under 50's who are already financially sound and no longer wish to work.

At what age do you think a retirement visa / (dosser visa ) should be obtainable? 49, 39, 29, 19 or 9?

As I said before, it should be available to anyone with enough money to support themselves without working.

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Desirable long term guests in any country should be:

1. Those who have expertise in business/science/etc and can fill positions of professional need. This would include English teachers.

2. Those who have money and want to spend it, regardless of their age. This would include those who spend money on education.

I had a visa and had a problem. it's definitely not guaranteed.

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It wasn't that long ago that the retirement rule was reduced from i think 60yrs of age

to 50yrs, so in actual fact it's been made easier to retire in Thailand.

Why 50yrs old, well, they have to draw the line somewhere, and it's unlikely that under 50's

will be wanting to retire anyway, it's just common sense.

As for your other questions, on working illegally, well this is what they want to stop, by

enforcing the rules to make everyone get the correct visas and work permits and then

pay income tax too.

Can't anybody retire if they have enough money to support themselves? Why do you need to be a certain age?

You need to have a university degree to get a work permit, and many teachers don't have that. So it's not going to make everyone pay more tax, it's going to force a lot of teachers to leave. Thus leaving many schools with no foreign english teachers. What is the major benefit for the country in that?

Why does the USA, UK, Australia etc. make it so difficult to get a visa. Hell I can be in the USA and decide I want to go to Thailand tomorrow and buy a ticket and leave. A Thai cant decide I want to go to the USA tomorrow and buy a ticket and leave. They have to apply for a visa that takes months to just get an interview and then hope and pray they get one. For the most part Thailand has easy visa requirements.

Because westerners have a lot more money than thais. And because Thailand has no welfare system to exploit, whereas the us and uk do.

That's pretty obvious.

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I was nearly denied entry with an ED visa from a government university. If you think they'll just wave you through suvarnabhumi with a passport full of tourist visas, that may be changing.

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I have said this many times on this forum and it is the truth. I worked for three years as an English teacher, I had a work permit and no university degree, I got my work permit by being a teacher, not a classroom assistant or anything else.

As far as I know, nothing has changed in the last two years where work permits and teaching is concerned. I also had to do the Thai culture course which is compulsary for all Foreign teachers.

I know teachers with a work permit who never had to take the culture course.

And they said they did need their degree.

Hard to figure out the rules.

No one has really answered my first question.

This crackdown was the work of the previous administration, correct? Is there any word on the plans of the successors?

The amount of money to be gained from income tax revenue is much smaller than the amount of money that will be lost from foreigners going elsewhere.

And both numbers greatly pale in comparison to the amount of money lost in the rice scheme.

Why do under 50 year olds need to pay 500,000 baht for a sketchy "elite" visa that had problems in the past when over 50 year olds only need to make a deposit in a bank that remains theirs?

The rules change every time the government changes. But I'll never understand why being 50 and up is considered an asset, especially given the greater likelihood of needing expensive healthcare services which they may not be able to pay for on a pension.

Some teaching companies and even many schools are incapable or unwilling to provide their teachers with a visa and a work permit. This is not the fault of the teachers, who are then forced to work illegally.

And what about people who work or study, but have a gap between jobs or visas that they'd like to fill with a tourist visa or a 30 day entry? From what I've heard and experienced, many of them will be turned away and barred from re-entering the country to interview for a new job or get the paperwork for a new visa.

I currently have a proper ED visa from a university, and arrived at Suvarnabhumi a couple months ago and was sternly questioned and then passed off to a supervisor because I didn't have my thai university ID card with me in my carryon luggage when returning from a trip to Europe. And I had a very proper ED visa from a government university.

You can't go from a complete free-for-all immigration policy directly to treating foreigners like 9 month pregnant Mexicans.

The idea that we're milking the Thai economy is laughable. I don't think there's a single Westerner in Thailand who's made more money than he's spent.

Was hoping for a higher level of discussion.

Just trying to understand thai thinking and the rules.

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It wasn't that long ago that the retirement rule was reduced from i think 60yrs of age

to 50yrs, so in actual fact it's been made easier to retire in Thailand.

Why 50yrs old, well, they have to draw the line somewhere, and it's unlikely that under 50's

will be wanting to retire anyway, it's just common sense.

As for your other questions, on working illegally, well this is what they want to stop, by

enforcing the rules to make everyone get the correct visas and work permits and then

pay income tax too.

Can't anybody retire if they have enough money to support themselves? Why do you need to be a certain age?

You need to have a university degree to get a work permit, and many teachers don't have that. So it's not going to make everyone pay more tax, it's going to force a lot of teachers to leave. Thus leaving many schools with no foreign english teachers. What is the major benefit for the country in that?

1. I remember the crackdown on land entries in 2011, which was not so long after the reds took over the government. I assumed the two things were related. This recent crackdown began while the reds were still hanging on to power prior to the coup. I wonder if the change in government will mean a change in immigration policy. And with the massive harm done to the tourist industry during the protests and the coup, wouldn't it make sense to relax visa policy rather than crackdown on it? Is there any hope that things will loosen as the government changes, and the current policy changes happening now may soon be lifted?

2. The English teaching industry is heavily dependent on illegal workers. Probably half of them or more do not have work permits. This is even more true outside of Bangkok. This crackdown, if it continues, will thus remove a large amount of teachers from Thailand over the next year or so, as many of them are denied re-entry and desert their positions. With Asean looming and Thailand already far behind in English competency, how does Thailand expect to teach English in schools? Wages never rise, and again with all the political problems, Thailand is not all that attractive for native teachers anymore. What will happen to the teaching industry with half of its teachers gone?

3. I'm curious if anyone knows why over 50 year olds with a pension are welcomed with a special visa, while under 50 year olds with cash are now being asked to leave. What is the rationale? Why is over 50 and foreign desirable for the country?