Hal65

Hi I was planning this for the future, trip not taken yet

Pattaya and Krabi have flights from Dubai, and Samui from Singapore and Hong Kong.

As an American with a long history of EDU visas, I typically enter Thailand through Chiang Mai. I come in on Tourist and convert to EDU.

Are Pattaya, Krabi, and Samui low on immigration officer scrutiny like Chiang Mai? Or more like BKK, DMK and Phuket?

I can confirm they are still there and also close 8pm.

My guess is the Terminal 21 guy was mistaken. He probably meant to type 20:00, not 22:00 as their closing hour

The 2nd Rd DHL and Naklua Rd Fedex both close at 6pm. But I have noticed that the Central Festival 5th floor UPS table, and Terminal 21 UPS, close at 8pm and 10pm. For someone on a night schedule this really helps.

Have you guys seen any other UPS stores around town? I am on Soi Buakao

Google maps claims there is one in Big C Pattaya Klang: https://www.google.com/maps/place/UPS/@12.9303573,100.8869361,15.46z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x310295fceccffb25:0xdff528b42843bd0b!8m2!3d12.9352298!4d100.8948128!16s%2Fg%2F11c5x7b9q7?entry=ttu

I went there and no one knew where it was. I even searched the parking area for it.

Anyone have a good apartment cleaner they can recommend? I stay in Pattaya.

On 9/10/2023 at 5:42 AM, BritTim said:

There will be absolutely no problem getting a re-entry permit (single or multiple). If using this for a trip outside Thailand of a day or two, Immigration on entry will also have no problem. However, if you are making lengthy trips outside Thailand, Immigration is very likely to question your status as a genuine student. Unless you can satisfy them, denied entry is conceivable. A letter from your school explaining that the absences are pre-planned, with appropriate remedial actions on your part to stay current on the course program, is highly recommended.

My plan is to always enter through CNX. Chiang Mai seemed pretty easy.

I need to go to Cambodia for a few days at a time. Over a year I may need to do it 3 to 5 times. It can be timed to look like mostly weekend trips to a neighboring country.

Is it "harder" to get approved for? Or just costlier at 3,800 baht? I assume unlimited re-entries?

Do I need to prepare an excuse for it? I am considering using an agent. In my case, the US embassy Cambodia (Phnom Penh) has next day appointments for notary service (I'm in real estate) and BKK is 2+ weeks booked out. I probably need a cover story as that blows the lid on my stay in thailand for "education"

So back on the Thai Elite, has there ever been a period where they appeared to roll out new pricing, determine it was too high, and actually lower it?

My guess is no but I'm happy to hear otherwise.

I'm in the long term ED visa crowd, my most current one will take me over the 10 year mark in Thailand. ED it is until I'm 50 in 12 more years. Or if they decide to do a serious crackdown, off to the Phils or Cambodia. 

As we are seeing here it's a pure monetary decision as to what will happen. If Thailand becomes rich enough to expel us middle income expats on non-work visas without much dent to their economy, they will. If not, they won't.

Putting personal desires aside I think in another 10 years they will be rich enough to clamp down hard.

The 100 person restriction on the 5m visa is reflective of the fact they do not intend to sell many of them. You are buying the 15 year for 2.5m and another 5 years for 2.5m. The only people who would do that are so value unconscious that they prefer Singapore and similar.

The 15 year at 2.5m is the most comparable visa to the old 20 year at 1m.

Less commitment to less people, for more money is their calculus. Given the flood of 10k applications per year, they had the leverage to do it. The "right" amount of people will still pay more for less years.

I'm in disagreement that it was a COVID surge. China and Asia grows richer by the year. This is 21st century elite pricing.

I was planning on getting the 20 year next year. But going from $32k to $143k scuttles that plan.

Based on pricing per year being lower on the smaller visas they are trying to commit to less years while asking for more money. I hope the market punishes them harshly. I think it will not. My guess is many wealthy Chinese will happily pay for 5, 10 and 15 year visas at the higher price points.

On 8/27/2023 at 7:04 AM, mrwebb8825 said:

If it's that big of a refund, maybe fly back to the states and renew your driver's license. Living full time abroad, you don't owe US fed taxes until you earn more than $125k (you don't claim Thai earnings since you'd be paying Thai taxes) - exception would be income derived from US assets (rental, stocks, dividends, etc.)

I'm not clear on why you suggest this over getting the passport card? I got the PP card and verified on ID.me

On 8/17/2023 at 7:06 AM, mrwebb8825 said:

still curious about this part. If you've been in Thailand for nine years, why are you filing for US tax refunds? Since when do you need to show an ID to receive a refund? Those are through direct deposit or a mailed check.

I got a big refund and as a fraud prevention measure they required me to verify with 2 IDs before processing it.

You always pay US taxes, you are taxed on global earnings minus taxes paid to nations with mutual tax treaties.

Thanks guys. I tried to barrage my way through the “emergency only phone number.” It turns out the person who responded didn't try to end the call at all. She then told me a few important things:

1. I can get the passport mailed back immediately

2. This won't even affect the passport card application

3. I can pay for a 2nd return envelope (for the PP card) at this link: https://www.thailandpostmart.com/product/1013460000929/ Afterwards I should reply to her email with the confirmation details.

So it is solved. The passport will return to me in 2 days and I will be able to go to Chiang Mai for the 12 month extension of stay stamp.

I've been here 9 years and I learn something new every year. The big lesson this year, was that the so called "emergency only number" will actually take calls, and it's far more efficient than email, which they delay responding for days or weeks at a time.

The other revelation was that they don't actually need to hold your passport, but they choose to by default. I guess to save on shipping costs. In the future I intend to call them with some excuse to send back the passport while the new one is being created. 45 days without it is often an issue with 90 day reports and extensions in the mix.

Thanks to all for the help!

On 7/22/2023 at 11:03 AM, BritTim said:

While it is possible that my interpretation is wrong, my assumption following his most recent posts was that he is still on the initial 90-day permission to stay from the Non Ed visa, and needs to attend immigration before its expiry to get a one-year extension of stay. That is based on believing his early claim that this is for a course of study at a formal university, not something like a Thai language course at an informal school.

I even called out the university by name. Payap University in Chiang Mai.

Quote

You have a problem. If the passport will not be available to you before the end of the 90-day permission to stay from the visa, you will need to leave the country, re-enter, and start the process of applying for the Non Ed visa again. (The tuition fee will not need to be paid again, but there will be extra expenses. Talk to the university contact to find out the costs and timescales involved.)  Obviously, you cannot leave the country without a valid passport. You will probably need to liaise with your embassy to get an emergency travel document.

To be clear you are saying I should:

1. Get the emergency travel document

2. Leave Thailand for a neighboring country

3. Return in maybe 2-4 weeks using the same emergency document

4. Get my passport

5. Attempt to proceed with the 12 month uni ED extension of stay

Is this an option:

1. Overstay 10 days

2. Pay the fine and get the 12 month extension at CM immigration?

If yes then I have another 10 days to work with. I think my 90 days ends August 6 but don't remember. The US embassy is slow to respond by email, maybe 7 days delay. They are not allowing phone inquiries on this type of matter.

5 hours ago, LukKrueng said:

AFAIK you don't "take over" loan, but actually pay off the original and take a new one. Usually a loan for 2nd hand car is more expensive than for me out of the dealership.

Credit history out of Thailand means nothing as they can't really verify it.

In the US it is legal to conduct a sale "subject to existing financing." The seller's recourse if you default is the purchase/sale reverses without compensation for payments made thus far.

So it sounds like it's either that or nothing as I have 0 credit here.

11 minutes ago, Eleftheros said:

The person taking over the car payment (as new owner) needs to be able to show a solid credit story to the finance company. That process can take a week or so.

 

Obviously the previous owner has to come along to the finance company with you to sign the relevant documents.

Is USA credit history considered?

In the US there is a market for taking over car payments and lease payments on higher end cars (even exotics). Does anyone know if this is also done in Thailand?

11 hours ago, Maestro said:

@Hal65

Do you know where your old passport is right now and in what state it is, ie physically invalidated (holes punched in it or a corner cut off) or not? Can you find out by calling the embassy?

Well first I should correct this, the passport at the embassy is my current passport and will not be renewed and replaced. I had to submit it to obtain a US Passport Card.

As for why the Passport card? Only one valid ID is a problem as is on display here. Hard to even get my tax refund, which the IRS is holding until I show 2 IDs on ID.me

Want to go to Lipe and not by train from Pattaya/BKK. Every time I've used my expired Thai DL at banks and AIS/True it's gone unnoticed. You guys think domestic flights the same, or do they really look at the date?

PS: ALL of my current IDs are tied up at the embassy

2 hours ago, Maestro said:

The only way to know for sure "what this 90 day period is about" is for you to post a photo of it here or, alternatively, type the full text of it. Can you do that?

No because it's not easy to get info from my contact at the school, she does the minimum

Okay, update:

• It is not a "90 day check in" so apologies for that bad wording
• It is some sort of 90 day period before I must go to Chiang Mai immigration to get a 12 month university ED visa
• My contact at the uni said if I am late I must leave the country. The good news is she is wrong about a lot of stuff. For example when I told her about the AseanNow consensus that a TV stamp transfer (old to new passport) is just a stamp, she said that was wrong. But then she saw that she was wrong
• This is why I'm asking you guys about this. But it seems no one knows what this 90 day period is about. Some ED visas seem to have them though. Maybe it is a "preliminary test period" or something like that.
• The US embassy has been slow to respond via email to my encouragement to prioritize processing due to my time constraint

Yes it appears to be some kind of 90 day + 1 year visa. 

• I have a US passport
• I have a 90 day checkin, then 1 year university ED visa (Payap Uni in Chiang Mai)
• I sent the passport to the US embassy by mail about 3 weeks ago. The problem is they only found it last week and started processing it then. Processing takes 4-6 weeks
• The passport is likely not to be in my possession by the 90 day checkin in 2 weeks

Is there anything I should do with Chiang Mai immigration to mitigate the timing issue?

If the answer is no and I am overstayed over 10 days, what should I do? My guess is the 1 year university ED visa will be cancelled, forcing me to leave the country.