oldsailor35

Since we have been hanging garlic around the house, there have not been any problems with vampires in the area. Maybe it will work with snakes?

Got anything for inlaws !

It cost me a lot lot more than 20,000 baht in immigration fees ,traveling costs and 90 days reporting to stay here legally,I think they should up the charge to an extra 20,000 a year on top ,sorry but it's not fair on the people who abide by the law

Really "sour grapes" nothing to do with you at all. I have been here 10 years now , just go about my business do the right thing and feel that it is between me and immigration, if someone else stuffs up with their visa i don't give a rats ass. How can it not be fair to me.

It can only be unfair on people like yourself who stay within the laws of immigration when by the laws are changed due to abuse of the system,in turn possibly affecting you financially and or by way of extra inconvenience of your personal time and effort.

Let's be honest irrespective of the circumstances of overstayers it does no favours to those who continue to play by the rules,that much is obvious.

The draconian rules already in place for genuine people with families and wives or partners is under threat by persistent abusers of the visa and immigration laws,that much is evident with the recent changes being implemented to border hops and double,triple entry tourist visas.

The continued number of expats overstaying visas,lack of medical insurance and in some extreme cases lack of funds whatsoever is of no means a help to others irrespective if you care not a toss about it.

The underlying fact is that issues such as this genuine or not in the long term will affect those who stay here legally and as is often the case the majority are screwed over by the minority.

Sorry, but i don't see it that way. When they change visa rules, its all about getting more money, not about overstay punishment.

How do people renew their passport when on overstay?

My mate was advised to "loose " his reported it to police and Brit Embassy, got a new one.

"No acceptable excuse" - by what measure? Legally the Thai authorities have not found overstay that egregious except for that already provided for in terms of the law. While many seem to wish ill will on some, maybe they might be advised to reflect on not so much Hemingway but rather Donne - bells do toll.

To this day I remain extremely grateful for the sound advice of Ubonjoe.- Thank you yet again should you read this.

I too am eternally grateful to Ubonjoe for his advice. Thanks Joe.

simply cannot understand or believe anyone who states ......."there can be reasons for an overstay ".......... NOT for a 9yr overstay there isnt.

If your personal circumstances change then you have a responsibility to do whatever is necessary to legitimise your status.

I bet those who believe a 9 yr overstay in Thailand is OK ------wouldnt have the same thoughts about " foreigners" in their home country who overstayed for that long.

Can ANYONE .......................who thinks that a 9yr overstay is OK.................give me just one legitimate reason for such an overstay.............

cmon just one good reason for not following the rules and doing whatever may be necessary to legitimise your staus.

I wont hold my breath waiting .

Some people are just plain lazy when it comes to organizing themselves, and put in the too hard basket. I have a good mate like this, a really great guy to have around. He was 2 years over but i helped him to get organized and now he is on a retirement visa, happy as a dog with 2 tails, and no problem to anybody.

I hope the offender is blacklisted, no excuse at all for it

i hope too; why people can stay 9 year and welcome back

Don't judge without knowing the circumstances, there are genuine reasons believe it or not why people find themselves in this situation. Hes doing the right thing now.

9 years overstay...'there are genuine reasons'...... ...one wonders why the latest tough immingration rules....

One word "Money" apart from that they really could'nt care less.

It cost me a lot lot more than 20,000 baht in immigration fees ,traveling costs and 90 days reporting to stay here legally,I think they should up the charge to an extra 20,000 a year on top ,sorry but it's not fair on the people who abide by the law

Really "sour grapes" nothing to do with you at all. I have been here 10 years now , just go about my business do the right thing and feel that it is between me and immigration, if someone else stuffs up with their visa i don't give a rats ass. How can it not be fair to me.

Did i read a while ago that there is a law whereby if a farang buys property in his wife's name and some govt department or another finds out. The govt will seize the said property.

This lady has already been to Australia but had to return when her partner was killed in an accident.

Please, what is the meaning of this word, i have never used it.

Another thing to note . With the Cobra in the pic on the ground.

You will be safer placing yourself in front of it ( head end) as standing at the tail end will put you well within range of its strike distance, standing in front of its head, it probably would not be able to reach you.

Anyhow good luck with the catching part, let us know how you got on. It is simple really just use caution but not fear !

On a more serious note. I have considerable experience at catching live snakes more venomous and some more aggressive than Cobras, in Queensland which has the 10 most venomous snakes in the world.

My method, which has never failed me!

1 piece of 20mm electrical conduit about 2 meters long, or less if you are careful.

1 long length of 10mm cord.

Thread the cord up the conduit and double it back leaving a loop about size of a saucer.

Knot the two ends of the cord.

Place the loop over the snakes head and yank the cord tight very quickly

.

Bingo ! you have caught a live snake. Drop it into a hessian bag, first making sure there are no holes, tie the bag and take the snake as far away as possible to release.

It is illegal to just kill snakes in Australia.

I can list those venomous snakes in order if anyone wishes. Most snakes try to get away from you, but some such as the Taipan and Eastern Brown will definately attack if aroused. then one just has to stand perfectly still and you will be treated just like any other tree trunk, i have had them just slip over my boots and keep going.

The Cobra rears up and warns well before it strikes usually bluffing you to go away.

Be warned: they spit poison too!

(not joking, from my own experience)

Not all Cobra species do this.

I have just spent several days wondering around Koh Samui. Everywhere i go i see lots of signs.... House-Bungalow for Rent, House for Sale, Land for Rent, Land for Sale. Shops which were previously in use are empty with For Let signs. At the same time, the government under Prayuth is constantly telling us that the economy is going well and that there are record numbers of tourists arriving in Thailand.

My question is "Why are these large numbers of arriving tourists" avoiding Koh Samui, surely it's not caused by the "Death Island" (Koh Tao) fiasco perpetrated by the RTP. Or is it.

You need to get a longtail boat over to Burma, takes about 30 mins not sure of the price, its been a while since I have done it.

Did that once, sat in the hot sun with no shelter all the way across and then when i came back it pissed with rain. No more longtail for me, i use the CLUB ANDAMAN crossing, sit in an aircon cabin cruiser. 30 mins each way, about Bht900. return.

A O-A visa is really designed for people who want to live in Thailand and retire here.

That's why it is available for people over 50 years of age....the Thai "retirement" age.

If you have an O-a visa when you firs enter Thailand you will get stamped on arrival with a "permitted to stay" stamp of one year from your date of entry.

You are not required to leave Thailand unless you want to during that first year.

Since your stay will be over 90 days however, you will need to do 90 day reporting, as everyone does who stays over 90 days continuously in Thailand.

I believe, but I may be wrong, that the first year of an O-A visa acts like a multiple entry visa.... in which you may enter and exit Thailand as many times as you wish. No restrictions on exits and re-entries.

Near the end of your first year on an O-A visa you may leave Thailand and re-enter and will receive another stamp for One more year as you re-enter Thailand.

That makes your O-A visa effectively a 2 year visa to reside in Thailand as a retiree, if used properly.

During that 2nd year , if you wish to take a holiday outside of Thailand you will need to purchase a exit re-entry permit, which will cost 1000 Baht for each single exit re-entry or 3800 Baht for multiple exit re-entries (if you wish) during the 2nd year of that O-A visa.

The exit re-entry permit during the 2nd year allows you to keep your current O-A visa valid while you take a short holiday from Thailand if you want to do that.

I believe after the 2nd year you can get an annual retirement extension from immigration, but that annual retirement extension requires having a Thai bank account of 800K Thai Baht or a monthly income of 65K Thai Baht monthly.

The big advantage of an O-A retirement visa over a non O visa for retirement is that a O-A, although it is initially more expense to get, it basically gives you two years of stay in Thailand once you arrive at minimal cost.

It's especially good if you are on a retirement pension from your home country, because it gives you two years to get settled in Thailand as a retiree to transition to living in Thailand and setting yourself up in Thailand.

This is a very well described account of the O-A visa. Thank you Farang.

The OP mentioned "doctor certificate in OZ" ie medical.

He is Australian. Also note it seems now AU do not issue non imm O based on retirement.

Back to travel to Vietnam. OP you can obtain letter of approval online. $20aud. Pay for visa when you arrive. Think its $45usd. Take USD but they do now accept baht.

Already been there thanks !

Oldsalior as ubon points out , you just need to exit. Guess lot depends where you live. I'm in bkk and would choose to fly to somewhere like HCMC for a short break . The flights are sometimes so ridiculously cheap. Going shortly 1500 return. Yes there is visa cost to Vietnam also Cambodia.

At this time it depends where one is from. France, Germany, Italy, Spain ans UK are 15 days visa exempt until next year. Other countries were proposed but weren't approved.

I am from Australia and living on Koh Samui past 8 years. Previously always had Non Imm 'O' which was issued over the counter at the Thai Consul in Brisbane every 15 months. This however was closed and sold earlier in the year. Now i have to apply by mail to the Royal Thai Embassy in Canberra. No more O-A visas there, only O.

Nowretired has covered it all. On side note. It appears that AU now only issues an O-A if visa is based on retirement. Melbourne website states they provide a non imm o based on retirement but they do not. Pretty much the only consulate that was issuing them was Brisbane. Of course now closed. I have tried Perth, Hobart etc. Sydney and Canberra happy to provide O-A ...that's it

Yes, this is what i found in my journey to a new visa. I gather that i can go to Phnom Phen and return when the time comes.

Thanks all for your help

Not sure what you mean by when the time comes.

If you mean do the last entry just before the enter before date on your visa you can just do a border hop to use it. No need to go to Phnom Phen.

Sorry to cause any confusion, i was just stating PP as an example as i would like to go there sometime.

Been to just about everywhere in the region.

Thanks !

Nowretired has covered it all. On side note. It appears that AU now only issues an O-A if visa is based on retirement. Melbourne website states they provide a non imm o based on retirement but they do not. Pretty much the only consulate that was issuing them was Brisbane. Of course now closed. I have tried Perth, Hobart etc. Sydney and Canberra happy to provide O-A ...that's it

Yes, this is what i found in my journey to a new visa. I gather that i can go to Phnom Phen and return when the time comes.

Thanks all for your help

Pretty well the same except for police clearanceand med cert to show that i do not have

1) Elephantiasis

2) Leprosy

3) Stage 3 syphilis

Doctor in oz laughed and said that drugs are a bigger problem than any of the above, and another thing, i have been in Thailand for the last 15 months !

I only had 6 months left on my PP so had to get another to cover 12 months..

Before this i have had no problems at the Brisbane Thai Consul ( which has just been sold, a very valuable property indeed) usually in and out in 2 hours, this all had to be done by post through the Canberrra Embassy.

Bank statements were not necessary as all Australian pensioners have to declare their Income and Assets to Centrelink ( Social Security). I just get a print out of my I & A from Centrtelink. This is accepted by the Embassy.

I asked for the usual O visa, giving me 15 months, which needs 90 day visa runs but was given the O-A which i am not sure about regarding visa runs or time in country, that is why i am asking, hope somebody can clear it up for me, Ubonjoe usually comes up with a sensible answer to most Visa questions...

For many years i have had O visa but now they have given me an O-A visa. What is the difference

AIR ASIA looks after its passengers unlike SCOOT !

Last year i flew with SCOOT from Coolangatta (Aust) to Bangkok via Singapore. I arrived at the airport at 5am to catch the 0850 am flight. On checking in i was told "the flight will be 7 hours late" not so bad for me, but several passengers would arrive in Singapore too late to catch connecting flights to Europe, UK etc. The Scoot staff at Cool were not interesting in talking to anyone except to say that we would be looked after on arrival in Singapore, and then just disappeared until the flight arrived. On arrival at Singapore SCOOT told me that my flight to BKK had left and that i was booked on the next morning's flight. That was it ! i had to get a taxi into Singapore and find a hotel at my own expense, next morning another taxi back to the airport for the morning flight On arrival i found my suitcase missing, once again SCOOT was not interested, telling me to ring back tomorrow ! This went on for 4 days when they found my baggage at Singapore, told me to pick it up at 1pm.

No help or consideration whatsoever from SCOOT

Recently i flew AIR ASIA from Coolangatta to Bangkok via KL The flight was delayed by 3 hours. AA gave all passengers a breakfast voucher to be used any cafe of choice at the airport. On arrival at KL twenty passengers for BKK found that their connecting flight had left. AIR ASIA put us all into mini busses and took us to a 5 star Golf resort for the night including a smorgasboard dinner, breakfast at 0530 the next morning and busses back to the airport. On arrival at BKK i found once again that my baggage was missing, consequently i missed my 1140 am flight to Suratthani. AIR ASIA once again came to my rescue by re -issuing me a ticket on the 230pm flight

AIR ASIA did all this for us because it was not our fault

SCOOT had the temerity to offer me $50 off my next flight, however sadly i told them to "Stick it"

Thats good news for me. I have just recieved my O-A from the Thai Consul Canberra. Did;nt really understand the differnce and was asking for an O visa. Thanks to ubonjoe i am now "all systems go"

Can anyone explain the difference between Visas Non imm "O" and Non imm "O-A"

Thank you.