I had a Thai employee that left my company by his own accord as I caught him sleeping on the job, stealing and constantly being late to work. A few days later he then returns in the middle of the night, parks his truck next to my office's 8 foot fence so he can climb over. He then starts taking equipment and tools from our workshop and loading them onto his Van.

All this was recorded by my night vision CCTV including his vehicle number plate and clearly identifiable face. I take the recording, his home address and mobile number to the local police.  Open and shut case right?, No, they wanted 10K to investigate even though I have done 90% of the work for them. I was infuriated and informed them that I pay enough taxes over the last 10 years, I bring you all the proof you need but you won't lift a finger unless I pay you? The lower officers were ducking their head in what I hoped was shame but with Thais, who knows?

You pay to play here no matter right or wrong. With the RTP title containing the word "Royal", Surely it should be considered Lèse-majesté. Perhaps replacing the word "Royal" with "Rip-off" would be more appropriate don't you think?

19 minutes ago, jojothai said:

I still don't understand why this is being referred to as a "Tourist visa".
do tourists go abroad for long stay eg 9 months?
The original wording was
"The Cabinet has approved a proposal of issuing long-stay visas for foreigners visiting Thailand.

Deputy government spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Tuesday (September 15) that the Cabinet has agreed to allow foreigners to live in Thailand for up to nine months per trip, provided they can prove they have spent 14 days in quarantine."
then it became called a tourist visa.
Looks like a pathetic political play on words. As if 1200 tourists means anything.

Clueless.

My point exactly!!! It reminds me of the mobile companies that give huge discounts etc to new customers but me, having been with them for 5 years cannot get the better new customer tariffs.

So these "New tourist" get 9 months visa and me as a long term 16 year expat can only get 1 month visa and have to jump through hoops of fire to get it.

Here is my take on this topic

• I've lived in Thailand for over 16 years. Fully compliant with a Non B Working Visa which is was just renewed and valid until late 2021.
• I have a business which before Covid was worth in the region of 60 Million THB.
• Employ over 15 Thai staff.
• Pay all my Thai taxes and licenses yearly.
• Have bought over 5 properties ranging from 5 million to 18 million THB.
• Put my child through British standard schooling for over 14 years.
• Purchased over 4 new cars, each one costing over 1 million THB each.

I visited immigration to confirm what to do about my Non B visa after the visa amnesty is over on the 26th September. I was informed that I need to write to my embassy / consulate and request a support letter to extend my Non B visa. I did this and was informed by the embassy that they will issue me a letter within 5 working days. It is written on the embassy's site that this letter is actually for British citizens that are "Stuck" in Thailand and not for people like me that are actually living here full time. 

I was informed this letter, once I have receive it and take it to immigration, this will allow me 30 days extension for the price of 1,900 THB!!!! I normally pay round 1,500-2,000 THB for flights every 90 days to receive my entry stamp however, now I must pay 1,900 per month + Support letter and Beg visit immigration to process my request to stay!!

I will have to do the same "Support letter" process month on month (if this is even possible) to stay here in Thailand as currently, nobody can cross Thai boarders as I would usually do every 90 days to renew my entry stamp. 

This is proof that no matter how many years you live in Thailand, no matter how millions you have invested in the Thai economy, whether you employ many thai staff, pay your taxes etc, you are just a glorified tourist. 

What if I can only get one embassy support letter?  According to Thai immigration, without this support letter, I must leave Thailand post haste, effectively ruining my business, No one to take care of my properties, will have to take my child out of university and more. This is bloody ridiculous!!! 

Immigration know I have lived here for almost 20 years. Myself and immigration have a full history of my yearly visas, work permit renewals, 90 day re-entry visa stamps etc, yet I am still just a tourist.

A simple solution:

1. Anyone that has proof of living in Thailand for let's say over 5 years, would have complete amnesty during this Covid from having to do 90 day reporting, no need to renew visas or at least be able to renew your visa at your local immigration office.
    
2. Automatic permanent residency for those living here legally longer than 5-10 years.

Well I understand this is not Utopia and will never happen in my lifetime so I guess it's wishful thinking on my part. It would be very interesting if say the UK reciprocated the same 90 day rules to Thai's, having to leave the UK as us expats do here. Better still, all thai operated companies within the UK must employ 2-3 British citizens for every Thai working within said company, you can only imagine the outcry. Oh, and God forbid if one of your employees listed under your work permit stops working in your company for any reason, less than 90 days before your visa renewal, effectively invalidating your visa.

OK, Enough ranting.

For those British Citizens whom need to get a support letter from their embassy please read the following:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Email:  Bangkok Documentary Services at - [email protected]

This mailbox is for applications for the following consular services: 

1.             ED visa support letter  

2.             Supporting letter for Thai Nationality application  

3.             Submission of Affirmation of Marital Status and supporting documents prior to appointment -Please allow 2 working days for us to reply to your email 

Consular letter relating to the death of a British National in Thailand (funeral directors only).  A member of the team will be in touch with you as soon as possible to organise preparation and collection of documents. 

Visa Extension Letters 

The British Embassy can issue a letter to support applications to extend existing visas for British Nationals who require a letter to: 

1.       Apply for a Non-Immigrant visa OR 

2.       Those who are unable to travel to their country of residence due to border closures or the FCDO advises against travel to that country. 

To apply, reply to this email with:  

1. Copy of the biodata page of your passport 
2. Entry stamp in to Thailand 
3. Proof of residence in a third country e.g. visa (if applicable) 
4. Supporting documents relating to your long-term visa application e.g. marriage certificate, employment contract (if applicable) 

You will receive an auto-reply from us once we have received your documents. Please ensure your email is less than 5MB. 

We will issue you with a letter within 5 working days of receiving all supporting documentation. 

The British Embassy will not be issuing a visa extension letter to British Nationals in Thailand on short-term visas who can travel to their country of residence. 

Please use our contact form for other consular enquiries www.gov.uk/contact-consulate-bangkok 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope this helps you and good luck.

Most S.E Asian countries offer free residency, bank mortgages, loans, not having to leave the country for BS visas after living their country for X years. I've lived in Thailand for 16+ years and still feel like I am only a tourist. I have houses, a business, employ 20+ thais, pay my taxes, my son has been going to a British standard school for the last 12 years and now studies in Bangkok, not cheap. Between myself and my wife, we support the thai economy more than most thais will ever and yet I fear, 1 wrong paper work, one late reporting and I can not only lose my working visa resulting in not being allowed to work in my own company but also I can be thrown out of Thailand at any time.

Regardless of my large monthly contributions to Thailand,s economy I have absolutely no feeling of security here. As witnessed during this pandemic, many types of expats are not allowed to return, even those with families and business's to run. We are left to defend for ourselves and then told we must yet again pay over priced rooms for quarantine, ridiculous insurance policies and almost impossible paperwork demands. We are told we are "Dirty", to "Go back home" and all the time we are looked down at by the local authorities especially at immigration. Last year, I witnessed one immigration office throw papers and passport at my wife and shouted to "Go" because she missed a 1 paper! This does not include the same immigration officers charging for services which are listed as a free service. Let's not forget the extortion and 2 tier pricing of foreigners when applying for many government services. I recall the many demanded under table payments requested by Thai's municipality when building my company under the disguise of "if you need it, you will pay more for it. The inflated taxes when importing items that when I send my Thai worker to collect the goods, the taxes are many 1,000 THB cheaper! It all starts when no government service prices are listed for all to see  or hidden behind thai script, leaving us expats wide open for Thailands corrupt practices.

I know many expats like me are in the same position and feel the same way. When Thailand stops treating us long term, money spending, Thai family supporting, expats as expendable burdens on the society, we might think differently when it comes to spending our hard earned money.

The fact that the Thai government has given permission to double charge us not only for our entertainment but for hospital services as well, police harassment with trumped up fines and penalties, Immigration showing no respect to us expats that allow them to keep their jobs, I have absolutely no encouragement to help. 

I believe China submitted the actual deaths from Covid 19. The rest of the world exaggerated the death figures for exploitation and political gain. When was the last time you heard anyone dying from a heart attack, strokes, cancer etc? In the west, regardless of any underlying conditions, you died from Covid. When China didn't join the BS bandwagon, they attack China saying they are lying about their death figures. Now the numbers are vastly exaggerated, the world will deal with the backlash. From what I understand, Thailand had about 60 deaths in total, with only 3 deaths in Phuket. So read between the lines. I think the master plan is still on schedule. They have kept us in our houses for months on end, closed all borders, ruined the economy and depleted our immune system. If the first wave didn't get you, the second one will. Don't take my word for it, just listen to a few of Bill and Malinda gates speech's on youtube, they even say this!

In this Video from 2015, Bill talks about our problem is not nuclear but Viral and how we are not ready. He makes an example of the Spanish Flu and how it spreads, very similar to Covid.  Bill predicts that will suffer harder than the west (wrong) and will need vaccinations.  I guess it didn't go to plan hence Bill offers Africa 10 Billion in aid if he can use Africa as a petri dish to experiment with vaccines. World organisations have donated 6 Billion to African countries. Not for hospitals or better housing and education but for contraception.  You see the bigger picture now?  Was it premonition or was it a plan?

I guess he's tired of dealing with Windows OS viruses, now he tries his hands at Human ones!!!

Remember, this video is from 2015. If you cant be bothered to listen to the full 8+ minutes, then just listen from 8.20. Bill says it all. Gotta love that smile ????

See it for what it really is, it's a Power Trip. Hang on to what little power you think you have until you don't. When was it the responsibility of a teacher to cut students hair? Teachers are there to educate yet we hear teachers are also hitting, bullying, punishing with cruel and unnecessary behaviour, stealing lunches of children, all without parents consent and it's not only Thailand. Far too many instances of teachers "tripping" over trivial student matters. My kid roles with a healthy afro. He loves it and makes him happy. He likes when the girls curiously touch his hair as they've never seen anything like it in real. It never stopped him from learning and is mostly in the top of his class. Any teacher that cuts my sons hair without my permission will have my wrath to deal with. I pay then handsomely to educate, not to practice their barber skills.

Teachers should have a new motto:

Feed the child's mind and not your ego.

6 minutes ago, lee b said:

Just imagine if we could develop a kind of space craft to send humans there, They meet up and we infect them with the COVID virus, I wonder what they would think of us ?????

I think it won't be that long to find out. Once we develop a working A.I. to save the world, it will probably decide that we humans are the virus on this earth and should be destroyed then the world will be ok.

It would be highly improbable that any aliens would have evolved at the same rate as human civilisation therefore aliens will either be way behind us or much more advanced. Any Aliens which can travel to earth will have technology far greater than ours. If theses aliens have any form of weaponry, it will also be more advanced than us. We would probably considered the level of early man or even less. It could be they are so advanced they would have GOD like powers or technology. If this is the case, they could probably wipe out the whole human race quite easily. We have been broadcasting signals into space for over a century. Just to give perspective, it takes a radio signal 5.5 hours to reach Pluto (4.9 Billion miles or 0.0006228 light years from earth) which means approx. 10 hours between communications. At 100(ish) light years away, aliens would be receiving broadcasts from earth from around 1950's, that's 70 years ago! Right now, aliens would be watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II broadcasted in 1953. If E.T. could phone home, he'd have a long wait for any reply.