KayCee

4 hours ago, maxx58 said:

I went yesterday to Nonthaburi Immigration to do my extension of stay based on retirement.

 

Regarding the documents pertaining to the house, I had TM-30, copy of homeowners ID, and copy of owners house registration.

In addition, something new that I did not need to use on my previous visits, was a form that is written in Thai for the homeowner to fill out and sign.

The crossed out Thai words were done by them. I believe it was written rental and then crossed out and changed to owner on the paper.

This paper can be obtained at the front desk in room 203.

Never was asked any kind of land sale contract.

Here is a photo of said copy:

Oh dear.  Does anyone know what this is?  Well, with a landlord abroad, who takes weeks sometimes of prompting by our rental agent to provide even the TM30, this is not going to go well, next week I'm afraid.  Is this new requirement something in the immigration rules somewhere and happening in all the offices?   It is really frustrating to have your extension held up by documents that you can't reasonably provide at short notice, that have nothing to do with you.  And with my lease ending in a few months, I somehow doubt my landlord is going to be bothered too much - from abroad particularly - to get something like this done for me.

Thank you ubonjoe.  I think we'll just go with our normal documents, and hope that there's really no new thing, and that our past good relationship with the officers there will mean we'll have another smooth sailing.  Will report back if not of course!

This was different than the TM30 which he had with him, and which was the same document/house/landlord as the year before.   We have never had a problem in 6 years, and had the TM30 ready to go too, I'm just worried now that there's a new land transfer doc needed. 

There was no agent involved in his case, and we've never used one either.  They know us at Nonthaburi and have never tried to cause any problem or seem to ask for any contribution or anything, so we're hoping for one last smooth extension, but this made me nervous there had been some new rule to try to catch landlords in some tax thing or something.

We have been told by a friend that when he went to do his yearly extension, Nonthaburi immigration requested an additional document from his landlord that was new this year.  Apparently, in addition to the copy of the ID card and the house registration, now they asked for a copy of the "land sale contract" for the land on which the house sits - and it required his landlord to go to the Land Department to get this from their archives. (This is different than the house registration that he had, and had had other years prior - a completely different form.)

Has anyone heard of anything like this happening?  Or is this some odd anomaly probably related to this particular case?  We've been here 7 years and never been asked for anything like that, but will be going next week, the day before we're scheduled to leave for Christmas holidays.  Our landlord's not in the country so a last minute problem of that sort would be a very big problem!  

Just curious if anyone else has ever heard of this sort of request?   Thanks in advance!

18 minutes ago, Pacificperson said:

If she has been in Thailand for 40 years, I doubt that she wants to be deported and put in an European nursing home. I would guess that the local authorities are turning a blind eye to her visa situation and will continue to do so as long as their hands are not forced. I would also guess that she has some limited local assistance - either from local expats or Thais.

 

From my experience with my 88 year old mother who lives with me, I would also guess that the main problem stems from the stairs. Either they are getting to be too much physically for her or they terrify her or both. You could try getting her a portable potty, but that means that you will have to arrange for someone to empty it at least daily. This done, you may find her willing to eat and drink sufficiently to maintain her health.

yes to everything you wrote.   My 90 year old mother in law who lives with us, and my father who passed away recently both had similar problems with physical mobility and need for help, and both had very clear ideas about where they wanted to spend whatever time was  left to them, and as they were both rational adults, it seemed that was their right, as challenging as that can be to help. 

appreciate all the advice, and Sheryl particularly from you as I know you're quite knowledgable.  She has been completely lucid as I understand it - just determined to stay in Bangkok, stay in her home of 40 years, and not to go back to Europe where she knows no one.  Her mental facilities may be a bit slipping with dehydration and illness the last few days, but before then, I've been told that she was sharp as a tack and very clear on her wishes.  Her local friends - most of fairly advanced age and with their own medical and other concerns - have collected enough funds that a short hospital stay would be manageable, not sure about overstay fines, but I'm sure someone would help.  Heck, I don't even know her, and I would help if necessary to get her the care she needs.  

I think the stairs and the bath are the biggest challenge, combined with the unbearable heat of late.  I sent along the shower chair we used for my mother-in-law, and suggested a porta-potty as well.  I hope perhaps she can be convinced to visit a local hospital, and will get an update tonight from my friend who went to see her today to try.  

Thank you again for your input.  It's difficult to see someone vulnerable in need of help, and seemingly with little resources, financial or human, to help.  (As I understand it, she may have a cousin still in her home country, but if so he'd be in his 90s and she lost contact decades ago - her life has been here.)

Thank you Ken (and thank you Ubonjoe for your moderating).  
I don't know this woman, so all I know is what my friend has told me.  It sounds as if she is eating and drinking, but given the heat, and her weakness she has not been doing enough of either.  Her toilet requires her to go up stairs, and with her deteriorating physical state, that has been hard, and so she is not wanting to drink too much, etc., etc.  She will accept help, and she will eat and drink.  She just doesn't want to leave her home.  I would completely respect that, as my father very much felt the same way before he passed away (in my home country) and we made sure he was able to stay in his home and get appropriate medical care until that day came.  So the question is how to respect her wishes, but also not refuse her help to be comfortable and to live as long as possible in the way in which she chooses.  The initial thought was a doctor that could visit at home, assess the situation, possibly prescribe some medication or some IV fluids, and her friends help her with potty chairs, shopping, and perhaps a home health aid or nurse to look in.  But these are only thoughts - things are happening fairly quickly from what had been a stable situation until this last heat wave and some diarrhea and weakness from that and dehydration.  It's always hard to know how best to help while respecting someone's wishes, and all her friends were asking for was some advice on resources that might be available.  

Thanks so much for the advice and concern, in advance.

To start - I don't know this person, but a friend of mine does, and has been trying to help her over several months and is now desperate for some help and advice.

This woman has lived legally in Thailand for around 40 years, but around 5 years ago lost all her money to a scam of some sort, and is now on overstay - this obvious complicates getting her medical help now that she badly needs it.

She is desperately poor, living in a room with no A/C, badly dehydrated, not eating or drinking well because she's weak and so is in a bad and rapidly deteriorating state.  She's a dual national from two European countries, and advice from the embassies is they can help her get home if she showed up at their doors, but she will refuse to go, and in any event is not in any condition to travel.  She has no relatives anywhere, never married, no kids, no siblings.  

It seems like what's really needed first is to find a doctor that would make a house call and get her some fluids and help evaluate the situation from a medical point of view.  Even if she's dying, and perhaps she is not, she deserves some care and attention.

Does anyone have any advice?  My friend and others are willing to help with funds, and with time, but really as fairly new expats have no earthly idea where to turn to get her the help that she desperately needs.  It's heartbreaking to see someone of that age alone and so desperate for help.  It's an upsetting situation, and while obviously this woman made some mistakes at an already advanced age, it won't help too much to go on about those now.  I'd be so grateful for any advice that I could pass along.

Thanks so much as usual ubonjoe.  Really appreciate all the help you've given me over the years. :)

I understand that when you're applying for a Green Card from the U.S. that you're required to have police checks from every place you've lived as an adult for longer than a few months' time.  So we'll be needing that from Thailand - we lived in two different provinces, so I was just starting to look into how that should be done.  Is that the PCS center?  Do they do it nation-wide, rather than province by province?  

I had sleep problems too though for me it was more about waking up at 2 am unable to go back to sleep readily. In end it seemed to be a combination of one physical and one psychological factor First, I had fallen into the habit of keeping my phone on my nightstand, and once I got a smartphone it was too easy to hear even muted updates or feel compelled to check for them, from friends and family on a different timezone. Some stuff was going on that was mildly concerning, but there had been an earlier crisis and I think somehow my brain just was too much on the alert and I wasn't sleeping deeply enough.

The physical was that it turned out I'd developed a vitamin D deficiency from trying to stay out of the hot sun here. Confirmed by blood tests, but once I started taking supplements as recommended by my internist, my sleep improved. Turns out Vitamin D does stuff with sleep cycles and natural melatonin or something - could be worth looking into.

If you snore a lot it may be worth checking for apnea if you're feeling tired in the morning? Or try to look into environmental things - a bad pillow, or a room too warm - all kinds of stuff can mess with your sleep quality.

Good luck! it's miserable to be tired and lethargic day after day...I hope you figure it out.

My dog that was sick slowly lost weight - so slowly it wasn't obvious if you saw her every day. Eventually she started to seem weak, had more difficulty standing - that's when we started trying to figure out what was wrong - at that time no blood tests for it in Nepal, and the vet was clueless and wanted to put her down. She still was alert, eating and clearly wanted to live so we refused and brought her to Thailand, though by then she couldn't even stand without help. That was about 10 years ago. Our dogs now we treat with Revolution, but we really don't have ticks in our current compound. In 4 years I've only seen one on one of our three dogs - but if they ever start losing weight or seeming off, it's the first thing I'd check.

(I think Ivermectin is toxic for some breeds of dogs - maybe Australian shepherds? at least that's what I heard when someone's dog here died after getting it - but I really need to read more about it.)

Our German Shepherd caught it in Nepal, nearly died, and we got her to Thonglor Animal Hospital here in BKK and they rapidly diagnosed her and saved her life, though not before she'd had a brain bleed that meant she had to do some rehab to regain her balance and coordination. She went on to live to a ripe old age, so we were incredibly grateful. When our Tibetan mastiff had the same symptoms some time later, we at least knew what to demand tests for, and how to treat it.

I'm glad your dog got the care she needed and has recovered well. Tick fever is bad stuff.

Nonthaburi immigration made both me, my husband, and my mother-in-law do this form for the first time for our extensions starting over a year ago (caretaker extension then, retirement extension this year). Seems to be their requirement now - fortunately we have a landlord who lives here and who is pretty responsive on these things.

Thank you so much - we asked them today when we bought the SIM card and they claimed to have no special rate or anything, but perhaps there was a misunderstanding. I hadn't thought to check their site. Really appreciate the help!

My elderly mother-in-law is living with us, and last month ran up an enormous bill using her Japanese roaming phone. My husband bought her an inexpensive local phone and True post-paid SIM card. Is there a cheaper rate possible for voice calls to Japan than just dialing out using the normal 001 country code number way? I thought I remembered seeing something like that on here for calls to the UK or US, but am not finding it now.

Many thanks in advance!

It may be best to read or watch a brief explanation of what has, and hasn't, been lifted. BBC has something like that I believe. Nuclear related sanctions remain in place for another 8 years and weapons and armament sanctions according to BBC news this morning.

I was in Nonthaburi Immigration today, but not for my 90 day. I was doing my retirement extension, but ever staff member in there today were the same as were there since I've been here, which is a few years now. Maybe yesterday was some special day and they were off for some meeting or training?

I think whenever you make a statement with "the <insert name of a very large group of people with disparate backgrounds and beliefs>" you're almost certainly going to be both wrong and perceived as bigoted. Replace your statements with "the Christians", "the Africans" or whatever and see how it reads. There are violent Muslims. There are also violent Buddhists (see Myanmar, Sri Lanka, etc.), there are violent Christians, there are violent Arabs and violent Europeans and violent Americans. Violent people who hurt people are evil and should be opposed. Labeling all people who look vaguely like them or who share a broad religion with them (but very different specific beliefs) with that same broad brush is just wrong. I'd be pretty outraged if someone compared me to Timothy McVeigh who blew up babies just because I'm both a Christian and an American. But this stuff is also just totally counter-productive since what ISIS wants is to paint this as a war between the West and Islam, as if their particularly murderous and ignorant brand of Islam is the only one, ignoring that the vast majority of people they are killing and maiming and oppressing are themselves Muslims. Why some want to give them that ideological recruiting victory boggles the mind.

Good to know for the next go round. May just return to the states as it's fairly easy for a 1 year multiple entry in LA.

Do you know if they grant visas for non US nationals in LA?

Sorry I can not help with this one. I only know from my own experience as a U.S. national

Not sure about LA though I assume it would be the same -- in Washington DC they will give visas for non-Americans, but only if they're in the US on a visa. My husband who didn't need a visa to enter the US from his home country wasn't able to get even a Thai tourist visa there last week (to convert to non-imm O here later), because of this and will do it elsewhere before coming back.

Just got mine from Nonthaburi based on 800k in the bank. Two-week call back after application accepted, received with no problem, and no residence check (though I did need the form from the landlord for the application). It was the same for my mother-in-law 6 months ago at the same office.

We tried to buy low dose (81 mg) aspirin for my husband a few days ago, as he's long taken this as a normal preventative at his age. Never had a problem before, but 3 different places (including Boots and Watsons) refused to give it to us (even at 81 mg- packet in hand) without a prescription from a doctor. We were astounded, but we hadn't tried here before, since we usually just bring it from the US. We eventually got it at a smaller local pharmacy as well. Interesting to hear it may be a new thing, though i do wonder why as it seems such an innocuous thing.

Nonthaburi immigration assured us last week that my husband could "follow me" on my retirement extension, and we only needed the 800k THB for me, to do it that way, with him as my dependent. We're just starting that process (got our tourist visas, next conversion to OA next week). Will let you know how it goes, but he seemed very sure as Joe said, that it was now allowable.

Nonthaburi immigration just started requiring a house book from our landlord when we took my mother-in-law for her retirement visa last May. They warned us then they would require it for our caretaker visa as well when it came due.

Also was in Vientiane today - the payment wasn't clear at the outset, but at least many of us were told to pay when we came back to get our passports/visas this afternoon and that worked fine for everyone around me going up to the window to get theirs.

A little note for this office - even though the form doesn't say it's required, they want, even for tourist visa, a copy of not just the main page of your passport which the form says, but also your entry card page for Thailand, and also, for whatever reason, a copy of the page with the Laos entry stamp and visa. I had to go get it and return to the officer at the desk for the Lao one, that hadn't occurred to me as possible, no harm done, but after a few hours in the heat it's nicer to have already had it done.

Thanks Ubonjoe. The MoFA thing came literally out of left field for us - we've had four prior extensions with no problem, and had the affidavit notarized by the embassy and copy of the birth certificate as before, and never expected this new demand. He likes us generally and likes to banter with my kids in Japanese when we go in for 90 days' or whatever, and he was nice about it all, and quite apologetic, since because our extension expires today I now have no choice but to fly to Laos and start over again, which is expensive, inconvenient, and particularly frustrating when we just got back from the US two days ago and are tired and jetlagged, and with school starting it's not the best time for parents to have to scoot out for a few days.

I asked the officer if they needed the MoFA stamp only on the affadavit, (the self certification), and he said it had to be on the copy of the birth certificate too. I asked him if the MoFA could stamp the B/C without the embassy signature (notarizing it), and he said no, the embassy had to stamp the copy of the birth certificate too, in addition to the affidavit. There's no way the US embassy will do that, I'm guessing, so I'm stumped.

We were going to do as you suggested - one of us get the retirement visa, one of us get the extension as a dependent. But if he insists on an embassy stamp on our marriage certificate I'm in the same problem. After sitting there literally from 9 am to 5 pm yesterday, I'm feeling pretty unwilling to go try it again without the MoFA stamp on both, but I guess I can try!

Thanks for the confirmation though that this is a new one - we try to pay attention and have our documents in perfect order before we go in, so I felt stupid if I'd missed something we should have known about.