Furryman

For ED visa extensions in Jomtien currently the regular 1900 baht only gets you 15 days instead of the usual 90, and it is implied that you and your school will undergo increased scrutiny.

If you are willing to pay 3100 extra for the VIP service you get the normal 90 day extension and are told not to worry about immigration looking too closely at you.

That's how it is for now in Jomtien but most believe someone higher up the food chain will be cracking down on the new boss at the office soon.

According to the word from my school today, students are still OK to go in on thier own but the fee went up again today to 5000 baht for the 90 day extension. if you want to just pay the regular 1900 baht you still can, but it will only get you a 15 day extension and it was implied you woud be calling down extra scrutiny on yourself.

I was also told the spike in fees will probably only be for a short time, the bosses of the new boss will not like the complaints they will be getting and will put him back in line eventually.

Luckily for me I was in on Monday, just be fore these changes and only had to pay the 1900 baht for a stamp good until the middle of April. Hopefully things will be more normal by then.

I asked about this today and I was told that the new bossman has threatened to implement this change but it is not official 'yet'.

It could happen anytime as policy statements coming out of the Jomtien office are litereally changing from day to day, such as the 90 day ED extension fees going up twice this week, from 1900 baht to 3000 baht and then again today to 5000 baht. Was told this change probably won't last long though, the new local bosses bosses probably are not gonna like it.

Have heard from another Aus friend of mine that the Aus Embassy has ceased issuing income verification letters.

They have never given income letters. All they do is witness a Statutory Declaration that you make.

That's the same thing, yes, as far as immigration is concerned.

Yes, he was speaking of the Stat. Dec.

He says that the Aus Embassy has ceased issuing them.

It's still a "my friend tells me" level report, but I figured it was worth passing on.

Have heard from another Aus friend of mine that the Aus Embassy has ceased issuing income verification letters.

Did not read all comments. But perhaps you know that young calves are kept in very confining cages until ready for slaughter and eating. This to reduce muscle development and keep the flesh tender. Maybe the same with these dogs. Some ethnic groups prefer dog meat, even if you don't.

Nice, you skipped the discussion and just jumped in to make a racist joke.

How civilized.

Well all I can say is I have been raising and training dogs my whole life, I learned from my grandmother who was from the UK and was a breeder and trainer of champion Shelties, and one of the pioneers of bringing agility training and competition to the US. So I obviously have no real knowledge to base my opinion on :/

Properly done, crate training is, hands down, the best way to raise and train a dog, especially if you will be traveling with the dog much at all. That said, Improper crate training, can be one of the most inhumane ways to keep a dog.

Obviously someone who keeps a dog in a cage all day and then lets it roam the neighborhood all night is not properly caring for their dog. Leaving a dog to it's own devices for 8 or 10 hours a day even with room to roam is not good either.

Honestly very very few dogs in Thailand are properly cared for. Just last night I had to dodge countless dogs wandering the streets, escape 2 different packs of dogs chasing me on my motorbike, and sadly dodged one dead dog which had been killed on the road.

Even in the west, most dogs are improperly maintained and trained. They might get fed better, and they are not allowed to roam the streets, but even most western dogs are not really fit to be taken out in public, and most never are. People think all a dog needs is a yard to run in and food to eat and it will take care of it's self. This is not the case at all.

So I have to say that from what I see, these particular people seem to be making an effort to be better than their peers, and I'd say good for them. If I felt I needed to intervene at all, perhaps try to share some dog training information. There is lots of good stuff on youtube.

Crate training is a totally legitimate and humane way to raise a dog. It is IMO the best way to raise a well behaved and civilized dog, something severely lacking here in Thailand. But like anything else, it can be taken too far.

To the uninformed, the amount of time a puppy stays in it's crate might seem like a lot, but so long as it is let out at least every 4 hours for about a half hour, along with being taken for a good long walk at least once a day, there is no problem. As the pup gets older it should spend less time in the crate, but if done right the dog will prefer to sleep and eat inside it's crate, as it becomes, in it's mind, it's 'den', a safe place all it's own.

Edit: FWIW the US Humane Society agrees with me: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/crate_training.html

I got the call this morning from my school who have JUST found out we need to leave annually, that is how long it has taken them to find out for sure, that is how dysfunctional the system is.

My Thai, speaking wise, is above average and I don't even speak English on a daily basis anymore as I don't have farang friends, they seem to p!5s me off. Anyway, my reading and writing is below par by quite a bit so this test is a bit daunting. I need to head to Laos next month, where and when will I be tested?

I'd be thinking about changing schools if I were you, I had under the table knowledge of the change before it was officially announced. They are either incompetent or were spending all this time trying to figure out some loophole. Either way, I'd not want my legal status here in Thailand attached to them.

Thanks. Frankly that indicates a massive miscommunication. It seems they actually never really demanded an 800k application but were just asking for some evidence of the income in the letter. Not at all surprising. Mystery if it raises to that level solved.

Next ...

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They were unclear about what they wanted to see exactly, it seems they just wanted to see the records of his Thai bank account, perhaps just to see that he was keeping money here in Thailand. He has also told me since that he was not the only only one with a Aus. income letter that was getting extra scrutiny. There were a few others there going through similar issues, all from Aus.

The Americans were sailing through with no problems.

While I have not had time to get all the gritty details from my friend, he did return to immigration and get his extension. He came back with a pile of printouts of bank statements etc. that the officials barely glanced at before handing over his passport with the stamp for the new year already inside. It seems that for whatever reason, they decided they wanted to make him jump though some extra hoops. /shrug.

I guess the moral of the story is that just because something worked one way once, it may not every time, and back up documentation is a good idea.

Yeah the timing works out for me pretty well, as the new 360 day year I'll get with this new visa will end about 2 weeks after my 50th birthday, giving me time to switch to retirement extensions. Never thought I would be looking forward to turning 50 so much.

No new word from my Aus friend, but another friend of mine, an American, just went in for his first retirement visa today, changed it from the tourist visa he came in on, and they accepted the US embassy letter no questions asked. No fuss, no muss.

I guess my Aus friend maybe is flagged for greater scrutiny for some reason or another. Like I said, I'll update when I know more.

OP, you say the letter was "the same letter he had used every year previously".

It might be different in Jomtien, but up here they immigration ask for a new letter every year.

It is a new letter he got from the Aus Embassy just days before.

Aus does not require any documentation, same as the US embassy.

Perhaps rejected is too strong a word. Not accepted perhaps? A distinction without a difference IMO. Either way, he had never been asked for further bank information before, and getting it assembled in the course of a few days is quite a scramble. Money in the bank will certainly not be seasoned, this seems to be the detail he is most worried about,

So I guess the point of this is, again, what was accepted as proof before is, in this case at least, not being accepted as proof now.

Sorry, I am just thinking about one thing, my friend didn't leave the country since he started his student visa,so indeed he was over 1 year in Thailand but in my case, I left the country 2 weeks ago (15 august), with a re-entry permit, I went to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat, so technically I didn't stay over 1 year in Thailand, as I left for 4 days. Does it restart the 1 year stay in Thailand, or the in and out during the year of the visa are not count ?

I am in the midst of all this myself and as I understand the new rules, the ED visa at 'non regular' schools can now only be extended 3 times. After that the individual needs to leave the country and a get a new ED visa.

The original 90 days + 3 extensions (3x90) = one 360 day 'year'. Being outside of Thailand for part of that year has no effect on the visa/extension validity.

I sort of got lucky with the timing of mine, I got what was to be my last extension on my first 'school year', taking me from 360 days to 450 days, just under 2 weeks before this new policy was announced. My school has been very on top of the situation, I got clued in that this change was probably happening a couple of days before the meeting when it was announced. They had not yet sent in forms to the MOE for my next school year, so now they are doing papers for me to take to Vientiane for my new visa instead.

There has been no change to the rules.

They are probably asking for back up proof for the statutory declaration not 800k baht in the bank.

Having a Thai bank book showing regular transfers into the country or some other proof should be accepted.

He should go back and try to get a clarification of what they want.

He is telling me they want to see the bank account with 800k. No mention of any record of transfers. His Thai lady had a long convo with the officers at immigration and she speaks english quite well so I doubt this is a miscommunication.

That doesn't sound right.

The possible methods have NOT changed.

Bank account only

Combo method

Income method only

Something is fishy about this report ... probably some kind of miscommunication OR a real problem with this specific application.

I don't for a second think this report indicates Jomtien or any office is no longer accepting income based applications.

There must be something about THIS application.

As I understand it, the letter from the embassy has always been accepted as proof of income. It's how he understood it too, and how it has always worked for him. That is why he had no other documents prepared. From how I understand what he is telling me, the proof of income has been rejected in his case and they only want to see money in the bank.

If he did get flagged for some sort of special scrutiny I cannot imagine why, as far as Pattaya expats go, he is a kindly and quite guy. Not any sort of trouble maker in any sense of the word.

I'll update as I learn more.

Edit: I am not suggesting that income based applications are being rejected at Jomtien, I am reporting that a previously accepted method for proof of income seems to have been rejected in this case.

There has been no change to the rules.

They are probably asking for back up proof for the statutory declaration not 800k baht in the bank.

Having a Thai bank book showing regular transfers into the country or some other proof should be accepted.

He should go back and try to get a clarification of what they want.

He is telling me they want to see the bank account with 800k. No mention of any record of transfers. His Thai lady had a long convo with the officers at immigration and she speaks english quite well so I doubt this is a miscommunication.

This is as strange as ordering a beer at a bar then to be charged again to finish it.

You have referred to loosing money several times. Could you confirm you are talking about application fees and not a loss of tuition? If the school is in fact refusing to return your tuition can you advise on the name of the school?

Sounds like the school is using this as a chance to be shady, If they charge the same for the first year as they do for subsequent years they really already got paid to do the paperwork you need to go get the new visa. All you ought to be out is money to get to the border and apply for visa. maybe money later for the 4 months added to the 'school year'. If they are asking for a whol years worth of money up front again only 4 months in, they are trying to rip you off and using immigration as an excuse.

I'd have to say shame on your school for not notifying you earlier about this change. It has been known and well discussed here for over a month IIRC. Your school should also be helping you get the paperwork together to go get your new visa. But not all schools are created equal.

It does suck a bit for some people who are at awkward spots in the extension renewal cycle, but that's the way it goes. if you want to live in someone else's country, you have to follow their rules, and sometimes those rules change.

I was not terribly happy to learn I have to go back to Laos for a new visa in October, but I have decided to turn a hassle into an opportunity and am going to make the trip into a cross country motorcycle adventure.

A good friend works for Diageo putting together launch events in bars, discos and hotels around and about. I guess she will be NOT be out of a job then.

Tax the stuff by alchohol content and this whole discussion becomes moot. Whisky would become too expensive and everyone would drink beer and wine. Problem solved.

Taxes are already based on alcohol content.

Me I got an ED VISA thanks for asking. I also got rather peeved about people pointing out 99.95% of ED VISA are abusing the system, by people that are abusing the system. So do tell me why I should have any sympathy for people who are breaking the law ?

Yes indeed, the shoe is on the other foot now I guess.

I guess the Powers That Be have decided these sorts of foreigners are not the 'right' kind of people for Thailand.

Leaving HuaHin tomorrow to

stay with a friend at his Private Address in Bangkok; what do I need

to do on arrival?....or is the onus

on my friend to complete a TM 28?

As Immigration is closed on Weekends does my friend have the option to notify my arrival to the

Police?

Direct clear answers much appreciated,thanks.

My advice is not to worry about it. There have been no report of them bothering anybody for the reports.

You friend if really needed would do a TM30.Yours is the TM28.

So it seems the subtext of this is that you guys have not been able to get a clear answer on this issue yet. Am I reading that right?

"...we look forward to a liberalization of business regulations for higher-quality foreigners."

More money = higher quality. That's offensive. At least the writer is upfront about it.

Screw that guy. I'm not working, I'm retired at 48, 46 when I got here. I have a mess of in and out stamps under my tourist visas before I switched to ED.

I get cracking down on people who are working illegally, but lumping those of us who have done NOTHING illegal, who simply are not old enough for a retirement visa is stupid.

What a dick.

Dear Furryman,

can you please explain me how is possible to be retried in middle 40ties..... Please, i would like to know.

I got lucky in the internet bubble, and I have some other stuff going on. none of it involves working here in Thailand.