TacoBoy

So any other countries authentification of income is not valid in Thailand either unless the proper procedures below are followed:

Step 5: Obtain Embassy/Consulate Authentication of Foreign Government

Once the documents have been authenticated by the U.S. Department of State, bring the documents to the foreign embassy in the United States of the country requesting the documents, where they will do the final authentication.

Contact information for the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington D.C. can be found at: http://www.thaiembdc.org/index.htm

Step 6: Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Legalization Division

Once the document is in Thailand, submit the document to the THAI MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS - LEGALIZATION DIVISION to make the document legal for use in Thailand. Once they put their stamp and seal on the document it can now be used in Thailand officially. The phone number for the Legalization Division is (+66) 2-981-7171.

Have your Accountants and CPA's standing by and come to the new Thailand IRS for Foreigners and Expats/Immigration Division for verification following the stamp and seal of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs Legal Division.

Lets just make all this complicated boys and gurls.

What Bus did Newbie just get off of

what a crock and moutfull from that poster.

Guaranteed, you can not finance here in thailand and not have a thai to sign the finance note.

Also the crap about not having to pay a girl ha ha ha ha ha he he he he !

Thai girls do not need money same as foreign women

Give us a frikkin break............................................. The Yolks on Newbie

Yea, we have all been there and done that before Newbie was ever born

right, Money for nothing and the chicks for free Right dude ! Who TF you think your trying to fool ? Only yourself.

PSSS... seen many a young dude paying bar and frothing at the mouth over some ugly hag in a bar. Plus all the local fights over girls.... haaa Hummm give us a break. Think we were born yesterday

So many aftershoks and quakes less than 4.5 richter are not reported but felt by many.

I personally have felt so many in Chiang Rai that have never been recorded or reported.

Still shaken but at least not stirred (as in the tsunami's).

Now startled if a big truck or a helicopter flies near here.

Nerves on edge just in case.

Double the electricity unless you're not going to use the a/c.

Forget about the phone line. Pay as you go for a cell phone. If you have an iphone you can get unlimited 3G for 590 or 690.

Basic internet can be had for 700 bt, but if you need good interent you have to go w/ 3BB premier for 2800/month. I have it and it's usually very good.

I can't see you renting a car for 10K/month, plus driving here is brutal. Just buy a bike. you can rent an automatic for 3500/month

Double the food budget unless you're eating 30bt street food every day.

By myself I could live well for 50K/month. WIth a gf I seem to spend closer to 100K even though our budget is 60K.

Having electric service directly with and paying directly to EGAT for electricity is lot cheaper than paying a landloard their expected UP'd price. Common scam and rip off. An extra thousand or so from each tenant is not bad for no investment on their part.

Always ask to see the EGAT Bill and confirm it is for your address. If they refuse or say something differnet, you are being scammed.

Hapens all the time with apartments, condo's and rental properties where the landloard supplies you with their version of the bill which is often double or tripple the EGAT price.

The original poster needs a solid internet connection to do business. Doubt just i phone or similar would suffice the poster's needs.

Motorbikes are fine when not raining but can also be dangerous. If the OP or others want or need a car, their business.

Daily car rentals can be had for about 1,000 per day as needed also.

Monthly rates are many times acceptable given the cost of financing (a thai can finance, not a expat) and buying here in thailand.

Current services seem OK. The services you are talking about were the ones where you stayed in Thailand while they send the passport abroad. Or even put a fake stamp in your passport

Using a seervice to hop over the border and/or assist you with getting a visa abroad is not illegal.

The same scam of fake or altered visa's or stamps can happen in foreign countries the same as the old scam inside thailand.

Not saying it does happen for sure, but if you use a service to go to the Embassy for you to obtain it for you, then you can not be sure what you get is truly legitamite.

While apparently not illegal to use a service, if you end up with something improper in your passport, you could face the same consequences as what happened before.

The services offered in the past seemed ok also, but the services did not suffer the wrath of thai immigration, police and going to jail.

Fine for these services to facilitate help preparing requred paperwork, transportaion, lodging, food, etc. but not the embassy documents themself. This is where as an individual, you could have problems if you get something improper.

It is your responsability, and you will personally be held accountable.

I can personally vouch for the fact that you will go to jail and have stiff penalties and legal fees if your stuff is a copy.

Had to bail one of my best friends out of jail for a fake entry stamp. Bail was over 300,000 and took nearly 9 months going to court to clear the issue. The friend's passport was held by the police and courts until the case was finished.

Friend could not leave thailand during this time.

Friend thought he was doing everything legal.

He went to jail, not the service or their employees.

The service did little and was not able to help.

Fortunately we did have thai friends in hi places that were able to help a little to string the case out and the prosecution ended up not being prepared to continue and the case finally dismissed.

Police did not take any action against the service other than to "talk to them".

800,000 must be seasoned for the required time. If it is all in one bank, then no need to show any additional banks.

If using several different banks to total at least 800,000 each of those accounts must also be seasoned and a bank certified letter and other required documents presented to immigration.

For example, 100,000 can not be seasoned alone and the other 700,000 not seasoned in other accounts.

For an income letter always be prepared to answer if immigraion asks for proof. Regardless of nationality, they have discretion to consider an application of extension, and ask to satisfy the officer a person meets the criteria for consideration.

Immigration web site currently says a certified income letter from a persons home country obtained in thailand is proof of meeting criteria.

Debatable by some, but the officer can, and sometimes do ask for whatever they want to satisfy themselfs that you do meet the criteria to be approved.

I myself always show my income to the embassy offical afirming even if they don't ask for it. I show it.

Not up to anyone other then the Embassy to question their policy for issuance of a letter.

That all occurs in private between a person and the Embassy Consular staff.

You "afirm and swear" under oath and penalty of perjury in your country that it is true and correct.

You are on your countries soverign soil when at such Embassy, and as such, subject to your countries laws

Quit complaining and just take Baht Bus on their regular route. 10 baht per segment.

No good to compalin to the authorities. they don't care really

All posts I have seen are referring to refusal by some Embassies to give Double entry TV's if people already have 2 or 3 in their passport.

Don't think I have heard of anyone refused a single entry TV.

It is logical that it looks as bad multiple double TV's or multiple single TV's.

But these are Thai's and they have Thai Logic.

If it is Logical, then it doesn't apply in Thailand. TIT

About 8 years ago, a lot of expats had legal problems after using services.

Jail, fines, legal fees, deported.

IMO not worth the risk.

Main thigs to consider are living in a place where you can get a direct phone line so you can have ADSL. So house or apartment/condo rent, you will need to be abel to connect and not depend on wi fi.

Thailand still does not have 3G.

You could have a professional dedicated server line connected. Don't know the costs, but figure to be maybe $250 a month or more.

If you can live with pretty good service most of the time, then the 6MB lines are usually consistant with TOT phone company. But remember the line is shared, and speeds sometimes depend on how many people on your particular line are on at a certain time.

Weekends and early evenings and early mornings are susually a little bit slower.

As an example, I am usually streaming live tv from the usa and listening to radio and have a local tv box connected to the router.

Most times the tv streams without skipping, but on occassion it does. Radio often is not interupted, and my tv box never has any connection problems unless the whole system goes down (rare, but happens about once a week for an hour or two).

As others have said, you need to come check things out for yourself.

Housing is way cheaper than back home, as is electric and water.

No Gas lines, only LPG tanks for cooking or electric cooking.

Depending on your lifestyle and needs, you could live decent from about 20,000 up, plus food, clothing, and entertainment.

In Chiang Rai (I know Chiang Mai is a little more expensive for rent) for example I pay 5,000 for a nice (unfurnished) 3 bedroom 2 bath home with a yard and covered parking in a middle/high class security neighborhood. Furniture is mostly inexpensive here.

Electric runs from 1,500 to 2,000 with all the lights, computer, TV, A/C, space heater (yes it can get cool in the wintertime nites).

Water is about 150 and home association fees about 300 (includes trash pick up).

Internet and phone is 690 TOT telephone.

The rest of expences are for transportation, food and misc.

As for bringing your dog......... Probably more hastle than it is worth for the stress and problems bringing a pet into country and if you go home problems bringing you pet into the USA

Open your horizons and make new friends. Lots of people move on.

Lots to do and see even in the Pattaya area. Get out and about. Don't stick to the same old same old routine.

Maybe this just isn't the life for you here if you think you are happier back in Auzzie land.

Life is what you make of it. A lot that can't be here would gladly change places with you.

We Are the World Bar on Beach Road between soi's 7 and 8 is a good place to strike up conversations. Live music, mostly friendly customers, and not too bad prices for beer. Girls arn't the most beautiful, but plentiful. Lots of people come in to just talk and enjoy the free live music.

They have a sister bar (forgot the name) on the corner of Beach and Soi 8 with live music also.

The drummer there sings some really good BG's songs.

Something that I think that has not been made clear is the refusal of issuing a double TV.

Think all Embassies and consulates will still issue a single entry tourist visa even if they do not issue double entries.

Don't think they limit the amount of single entries.

That still will give 60 + 30 days on a single.

Why would anyone even consider getting a new passport unless similar to the OP has only 8-10 months left until it expires.

Sure, it is nice to get 180 days vs 90.

Remember if you do not take care of it yourself, you will not know if what you get is real or a copy.

If immigration finds it is a copy, Big Problems for you.

Embassies issue new Passports and give you a letter for Thai immigration to transfer info of appropriate visa's and stamps from your old passport to new passport.

Think it is best to go to immigration office asap when you receive a new passport and not wait and take a chance that they will not do it at the airport.

Immigration office in Bangkok used to have a special room for doing this sort of thing. Don't know the situation at other.

The medical form and Police clearance letter is usually required from home country Thai Embassies and Consulates.

Not too exensive usually to get from your own doctor or just about any clinic.

I was once required by the local thai immigration officer to get a medical form. No biggie, just went to the local hospital sponsored clinic and got the lettr from them for way under 100 baht.

Home country Embassies usually do not require your home country bank account to be seasoned, but a certified or notarised letter from the bank, or your income sources to meet their criteria.

If you are already in thailand, money needs to meet the seasoning requirements for the bank or a certificate of income from your embassy in thailand when applying to convert to non immigration visa. They may also request at their discretion a medical form and a police clearance. Not sure where to get tthe police clearance, but some have said with the Royal Thai Police, but don't know what office would be acceptable.

Check the Wild Boar Bar with an owner from Vancouver. He has US/Canada sports and a couple differnt feeds on his TV's. The wild boar is on Soi 1 near Ta Pia Gate (I know I can not spell it ).

If you have TRUE UBC Platinum, think many games are on ASN channel 108 and a few are on the regular Gold Package sports channels from time to time.

Nearly 10 years ago it was common for people to use Visa services without leaving the country until suddenly people found out many if not all the stamps were illegal. Many went to jail, cost a lot of money in legal fees and or were deported.

Beware of things too good to be true, usually come with a big risk.

Notary Fee now 1,500 thb as of this past monday.

No cost for appointments, and alot more convenient and efficiant than the Embassy in BKK.

Tilac Loves Cucumbers to relieve stress.

Siow Siow, Set laow Set laow

Hear Carrots will do in a pinch

Or the local favorite Plha Lie

Tops Market was a pleasant surprise.

Almost like a real falong market worldwide.

Hope they can and do keep the consistancy.

Nice to see compared to the local mom and pop style of groceries offered by other local Tops , Big C or so may other disapointing markets

Surely a cultural shock for CR, will take a little time for locals to adjust.

But in the end will be well worth it for Tops and others to stay the course :jap:

For sure need to have current top rated Falong Movies with Thai Subtitiles, otherwise the Cineplex will fail !

Actually less expensive for mos items then found elsewhere or even in the wetern world.

If you need the item, it is there

sriracha re read my updated reply #7

Thanks, guys!

@TacoBoy I definitely understand your concerns and wish to have my work situation legal in Thailand. I operate a small business that is perfectly legal in America (online work for restaurant clients) and will not have difficulty financing a stay in Thailand even without that income.

What sort of Work Permit is necessary for doing business with exclusively American clients, but temporarily residing in Thailand?

@InterestedObserver Thank you for the clarification! I didn't realize the 30-day entry stamp was different than the tourist visa. To apply for a proper tourist visa, does an applicant need to have paid airfare leaving the country within the 60 or 90 day time frame?

Thanks!

If a person/business has enough funds, they can obtain an investment or business visa in thailand.

It may be several million baht investment required.

Americans doing business in Thailand have a special Treaty of Amity and Commerce.

Didn't understand from your OP that you had more than substantial funds to sustain yourself. There was mention of not enough for a flight.

A onward ticket may be required for a tourist visa, depending on the Embassy/Consulate.

Closest travel from Pattaya would be either Phnom Pehn Cambodia or Ventien Laos.

Someone more in the know can answer if you would need an onward ticket at either of these places.

If possible, you may be able to get a double entry tourist visa which would cover about 6 months.

Also it may not be considered work in Thailand if you are not working for anyone other than yourself while on Holiday on line with strictly American based companies and no involvement with Thailand.

But that is truly a legal question to be answered by a thai business attorney.

good luck

The Op could always try local immigration and ask for a emergency 7 day extension.

That would be at their discretion. They work there and know the conditions better than anyone else that could possibly help you elsewhere.

Wow, lots of legal implications can be had working without a Work Permit and only here on a Visa Exemption on Arrival that can not be extended.

Border runs only give you 14-15 days, and flying in gives you another 30 days Visa Exemption.

These points far too often are overlooked by those that attempt to circumvent the rules.

Not being critical toward you or others in the same boat, but:

If you are going to just continue on with your current endevours improperly, then just get a tourist visa at a Thai Consulate/Embassy outside Thailand good for 60 days extendable for another 30 days at a local immigration office.

But be aware that working is forbidden and if you are caught working (especially if the telemarketing thing turns out to be illegal somewhere else, as has happened to some persons in Pattaya area) you could face serious legal problems and possible jail and or fines.

If a person does not have the money to support their stay here, then should not be here, especially as a tourist.

Possibly try to get a yob working at a school teaching english and get the proper visa.

No matter what, you have to get a proper visa and work permit to engage in work here.

Have not seen anyone blatently flogging the log or flashing outside the local brothels without the assistance of a partner.

Lots of wierdo's in some toilets occassionally, especially in thai disco's shaking it a few too many times at the urinal.

Seen more wierdo's who were exposing/stroking in public in the western world.

If it was a 6.8 epicenter in Chiang Mai it would be very Strong and Violent. The type of quake would determine how much damage and type of shaking from the different type of shock waves.

When the quake hit in Burma last wee, I was in Chiang Rai in a single story detached brick and morter 10 year old house. Decent construction by Thai standards.

Felt and looked like the house was going to fall down. It rocked and swayed very violently. Could not stand up and maintain balance properly. Quake felt here nearly a minute.

And this was maybe 90 kilometers from the epicenter