sua yai

We got the same telephone call this morning.

See below for my thread.

Just had a wierd telephone call from The British Embassy. I say wierd, because I've never heard of this happening before.

A Thai lady on the other end confirmed our telephone number and then asked for my wife. When she came to the phone, it was explained that it was The Embassy calling and that they knew she was married to a Brit and that she had gone to England last year on holiday.

"Could she confirm the date she arrived there?" She did, with some help from me. Then,

"How many days did you stay in the UK?" - "A month" (which was exactly the length of time we put down on the application).

Anyway, it was then "No problem. The Embassy is checking up on people who have visited the UK recently" and that was that.

I didn't have a chance to speak to the person again. Is this normal? As I said, I've never heard of it before, but seeing as they don't stamp visitiors out of the UK and so presumably have no record of departure, I guess, other than flight details, or liasing with Thai Imm, this would be the only way to check that my wife had indeed departed in accordance with her visa.

Sorry.

Double post.

Well, no alcohol during elections might be more widespread throughout the world than any of us think. I certainly can't speak for that many countries, but India is definitely one.

It's not to get people to vote, it's to stop them getting drunk and killing each other as the results come in.

A few years ago, I had been drinking and feeding quite openly with a friend and our Thai wives on the Sunday of - I'm sure - a national election, rather than provincial. All the Thais were having a good time as well. If you're ordering food, the regulations don't apply.

We got back to town and tried to buy some beers from a 7/11. Our Thai wives had gone home round the corner. Us two farangs were turned down for booze sales. "OK, we'll go to the Family Mart", literally next door. Needless to say, were were allowed to buy some beer and the staff at 7/11 looked on in disbelief as we walked by showing them our goodies.

It was never the fault of the staff - they were only following instructions, but the hyppocracy of it all made us laugh.

BTW,

On the odd occasion I go down to Ranong now, I break the journey up in Chumpon as well - as has been suggested.

A good hotel there is The Chumphon Palace Hotel. It's 400B a night with air con, cable tv, hot water shower, mini bar etc etc. Right in the middle of town, which is pretty quiet at night, but within striking distance of some farang bars if you're in need of fish and chips, pie and chips, whatever and want to chat with some other travellers over a beer or two.

It's 10 US dollars now on the Burmese side from Ranong.

Easily obtainable in Ranong itself from the taxi drivers or their friends, but it will set you back 600 Baht. Obviously cheaper to get the note from a Thai bank first.

Look I may be wrong here, but I am sure "Lopburi" mentioned that if your income is earned abroad and it meets the 40,000 baht per month criteria, and you have the embassy letter, plus evidence to back that up if the immigration ask for it, then that should be sufficient. I do not know of any requirement to monthly transfer 40k to a Thai bank account. That is not my reading of Police order 606/7.17 anyway.

On 22 May I am going to Soi Suanplu for annual extension armed with my recent embassy letter, so will let all know. Thanks

I can assure you that you are correct, but the immigration officers might see it differently, and they're the ones stamping your PP. so be prepared for some extra hoops to jump trough. For me it turned out OK in the end, but there seems to be all sorts of misinterpretations at the local immigration offices around the kingdom. Since you're going to Suan Plu I think you will get what you want, Pattaya, on the other hand, seems to enjoy making problems even though all the papers are in order

Good luck

Morty

We've had a chat about this before, Morty.

I'm not looking forward to when my bank statements come through from the UK and I have to try to "convince" the IO that the correct reading of The Police Order is that there only needs to be evidence of 40k+, rather than that sum being transferred into a Thai bank.

As an aside, can I apply at Soi Suan Plu? I don't live in BKK. Will they insist I do the application through Hua Hin? Anybody? I've got a bad feeling about this now. There are ways around it - ie I reach 50 next August etc etc, but I really thought that I wouldn't have to be doing the runs again to cover me from Dec-Aug. Unless anyone can advise me of my "standing" re the one year extension and transfer of funds, or applying in BKK, I suppose I'l be visiting friends in Langkawi or Penang for a while. Not the end of the world.

Totally agree with the BKK scenario, Astral.

I'll have one more try here to get clarification of things when I've received the financial information, but not actually apply. If I get another knockback, then I'll consider applying in BKK.

There really aren't many other options for me, other than to let my visa run its course until December and mess around with Tourist Visas until I reach 50 next year!!

It's not the end of the world, but after being here for 9 years and married for almost 2, I thought I was in a good position now to further legitimise my visa status. I can transfer the funds over, but it's not what I want to do as I have a business to run in England. I need to be sure that any savings, whether here or back home, can be transferred to where they're needed quickly.

I'll keep you all posted.

I started a thread on this two days ago after a visit to my local imm office. I was told by the officer that the 40k minimum had to be transferred to a Thai bank and that there had to be a 3 month history of that. All the verification from my home country (bank statements) and a confirmatory letter from my Embassy were required as well. All the other stuff - ie my wife, marriage certificate, her ID card, tabien bahn, address in Thailand etc etc go without saying.

I havn't given up yet as I was only there to get a check list, rather then apply. I had no documentation with me, other than my passport. So, I'll wait until the necessary bank statements reach me and go again - this time a bit better prepared. I didn't think I needed to be last time. It was like a "social visit" not a formal application, but the transfer of funds bit threw me.

Thanks Morty,

The application hasn't been made. I was intending doing it around the 1st June. Just checking today what they wanted to see, as stuff has to come from England (bank statements/ tenancy agreement etc).

Hope I get as lucky as you.

Thanks for the replies so far. My office is Hua Hin.

I can totally understand that the IO will be concerned that I may be working in Thailand without the correct documentation. However, a copy of the current tenancy agreement will show a gross income of around 100k (they did ask for that). Bank statements form the UK will show a net income of some 83k (after agent's deductions) and also that the two of us spend, on avarage, a little over 40k a month in Thailand. I've got to save the rest for maintenance issues on my property, as and when they arise.

I suppose that if we're already spending the money, then it's sensible to set up a transfer up over here of 40k a month and I've got the time on my visa to get three month's worth in before actually making the application. However, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that. Every penny saved back home just makes life easier here.

Alternatively, I'll muddle by until August 12th 2008, when I turn 50 and go for retirement on the basis of 65k income.

It's frustrating, to say the least.

Some details first.

I'm a British citizen, 49 yrs old in Aug who's been married to a Thai national for coming on two years. I currently have a multi-entry Non O, issued from Hull on 21st Sept 2006. Expiry date 21st Sept 2007. My current entry stamp permits me to say until July 1st.

I follow this board daily and thought I was pretty au fait with the paperwork that was going to be necessary to get a year's extension. As some documents will have to come from England and I need the letter from The Embassy confirming my income, I decided to pop into the local Imm centre this morning to make a final check of what I'd need to support my application.

All went well and there were no surprises until it was categorically stated that I needed to show the minimum 40K per month being transferred into a Thai bank account.

I asked three times whether the Officer had got that correct. She even went and dug out some old applications (I didn't see how old, ie maybe prior to Oct 1st) but all of them had the letter from a Thai bank confirming the income over three months and copies of the relevant bank book details.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought a letter from my Embassy (which they'll give, I've called them already) was sufficient to demonstrate the minimum 40k income. I didn't think that the money had to be transferred into Thailand any more (for income).

Can someone advise me if the information I was given today is correct? Everything I've read on this forum suggests it isn't.

If that is the case, can I go up and apply in BKK at Soi Suan Plu? That might be an alternative if my local office continues to possibly misread the new regulations.

Any advice would be much appreciated. I have more than twice the minimum income, but it's just far easier for me to leave it in the UK as I have a business to run there (namely, my property). My wife and I live on what we need month to month through ATM withdrawals. Some months 45k, some months 35k. Leaving it back home just makes my life so much easier in terms of property management - although not, by the sounds of things, a Thai visa extension.

As a word of caution, if things havn't changed since last September, make sure you check using IE. I was last year, using Firefox and the Embassy's/VAC's website couldn't read my request.

I kept putting the passport number and ref number in and was continually told to reenter it. I just thought the passport wasn't ready for collection until a friend pointed out that I should use IE. It had been waiting at the VAC for a few days.

Have any of you been in that kind of situation before?

Because, if you havn't, I can assure you it's not nice. The ink off the fingerprint stuff lasts forever, the people come in with cameras and "flash around". It's not very nice - and that's as big an understatement as I can make.

It certainly dosn't look good for this person as he seems to have stabbed a police officer, but for all of you who speak vengence (with few posts) and tear into him from a rascist point of view :

Live on.

It dosn't look good for him though.

Ok thanks folks.

I really thought that you could extend a Non O (single entry) by 30 days for 1,900THB. That would have given the 4 months the person was looking for. She's applying for retirement, BTW, but dosn't want it now. She does have the age and financial requirements to do so though.

The other possibilies are endless, but as above for some reason.

Can anyone advise me whether it's possible to extend a single entry Non O visa for 30 days for THB1,900?

I've told someone that it is possible, but I would like confirmation of that as they have to book their tickets. Thanks.

I've been renting my property out in the UK for knocking on 9 years and living over here. I'm sure you've thought about it, but you will have maintenance and other costs back in the UK at some point. As you can probably fall back on the lump sum you refer to in this situation, I'm sure you're covered.

As an example, last year (between May-Apr), I spent over 250,000 B on my place. That was extraordinary and this year - so far - has been nothing like it. It will hit again though, of that I'm certain. So, I need to always save back in the UK every month for these rainy days. I do not have a lump sum to fall back on though. You also may get void periods in your tenancy - so no income.

However, that 40-50 k back home will dwindle over the years if you're unable to add to it from savings. Just a thought from someone who's been doing it for a while.

I was down in Ranong 4 days ago for my 90 day stamp.

I asked imm if they'd been busy. The answer was yes - very.

Going back on the bus, was talking to "an islander". When he gave me his passport it was marked with luminous yellow for the first 2. The third that he'd just done was written "3".

I swear he didn't even know about the 3x3 etc. Just chilling out on the islands.

Hopefully he'll sort himself out.

Colpyat,

Couldn't agree with you more. It was only a few years ago that a "cocktail" of antiretroviral would cost a Thai person 3,000 baht+ a month.

I think we're all realistic about how much, financially, that means to most Thais. Now, the medicine costs 30B a month - or it's free. That's a great movement forward to give hope to those who are affected by HIV and are lucky enough to have the condition diagnosed in time to make a huge difference to their lives.

To whatever and back to the pharmaceutical giants of this world. Whilst I appreciate that they are businesses and therefore have to make profit through R&D, there are people out there, everywhere, who are slowly dying because the medication is too expensive.

I commend Thailand in her decision to help her people. I just hope that other countries, such as South Africa, really do try to educate their people that eating beetroot etc (I think it was something stupid like that) will not work wonders. I think they've learnt now.

Don't know the arguments between diabetes and HIV, but I sure know people here who are very healthy because of the "cheap" medicine that's available now.

I don't think that's a bad thing.

Thanks for the replies. It gives me another option.

In practice, we're spending about that amount now anyway and I'm covered with a multi Non O from the UK until about Dec next year.

It may work out cheaper to make one transfer of 40k a month to a bank here, rather than get charged by my UK bank for each ATM withdrawal, but at least I've got a choice when the time comes.

So, for someone like me, who gets income from property in the UK, correctly endorsed documents from my UK bank, letting agents, Embassy etc should be OK? I'm married BTW.

I thought I had to bring the 40k into a Thai bank.

I've never been clear on this for the support extension.

I've just spoken to the security department at Barclays. They confirmed roughly what the OP has said.

My card was being monitored as there had been ATM transactions over here. Although I have been able to use an ATM sometimes, the card was partially blocked. So, if I was using an ATM that I hadn't been to before, it was letting me take money. After that, the particular ATM was blocked for my card. In reality, the girl said I shouldn't have been able to use an ATM at all. Going into a bank with my passport was OK though as they had proof of my identity.

As I've called Barclays and given all the security passwords etc, the card should work OK from tomorrow. I'll make sure before the banks close for the weekend!!!

As a PS, I've used Barclaybank/Connect cards here in Thailand for 8.5 years, so it's not as if the bank are seeing any unusual withdrawals.

Also,for anyone else, the international number for Barclays, open 24/7, is +44 1604 614812

My Barclays connect card is the only access to money I have over here. I was having trouble with it a few months ago and then was back in the UK for a month. As the old card only had 9 months validity on it, I got a new one.

The problems here in HH have increased since I got back. I'd reckon that 50% of the time I try to use an ATM - at any bank anywhere in town - the message "Contact issuing bank" or "communication error" comes up. The only way then for me to get money is to go into a bank, or exchange booth, with my passport and the bank swipes the card through to BKK. I've never had problems then. Just makes it difficult if it's a weekend or late at night.

I've asked the major banks here what the problem is. Other than "it's your magnetic strip.Contact your bank back home", I've no other explanation. I'm sure it's the computers here crashing, so my account details can't be checked. Normally if I try again the next day, it works.

If Barclays are really doing what the OP says, I'm knackered. I'll call my bank now and see what they say.

Interesting question, because when we left there was a cursory glance at both our passports (as much for security as anything else I would imagine), but no scrutiny of my wife's date of entry.

We were only over for a month, so the question of overstay on a 6 month VV didn't apply.

However, is there a fine - like here -if someone does overstay? Let alone ever getting back in.

Does the income have to be shown coming into a Thai bank? Or can I prove that I have more than the required amount being earned in the UK?