seniorbro

Thanks to everyone for their helpful replies. The conclusion seems to be there is no way to change the renewal date of a retirement extension. I'm loathe to let my current one expire but may have no choice but to begin again with a visa exempt entry or 90-day non-immigrant visa, and then apply for a new retirement extension. At least it seems a new extension can be applied for in Thailand, which I wasn't aware of.

I had also thought of using an agency to handle the current November renewal for me, but realize I'd still need to turn up in person at immigration to get my passport back, so that won't work either.

Btw, the reason I won't be spending so much time in Thailand is that I'm moving to Mexico where you get a six-month tourist visa on arrival, much more generous than than the Thai 30 days.

Thanks for your reply, and the tourist visa route is certainly a possibility.

I have a multiple re-entry permit so my current retirement extension wouldn't be cancelled on leaving the country.

However, I am intrigued by your suggestion that if the current extension was cancelled, I could apply for a new extension later. Does this mean that I could let my current retirement extension expire in November 2014, then come back in June 2015 and apply for a new extension in Chiang Mai without having to start the whole retirement visa procedure all over again from the Thai embassy in my home country (UK)?

Hi All,

I have a retirement extension renewable in November each year and I would like to change the renewal date to June. This is because I am now spending less time in Thailand during the winter so won't always be in the country on the November renewal date, or for several months before the renewal date ( I am aware it can be renewed up to 30 days in advance, but that doesn't help me much).

My question is, is there anything to stop me going to my local immigration office (Chiang Mai) five months early and asking to renew my retirement extension in June? Obviously, I will lose five months of my current extension this year, but that is not a major problem and would be outweighed by the advantage of a June renewal in later years. I was wondering if anyone has done something similar, and with what result, and what has been the reaction at the immigration office?

Thanks in advance,
Essbee

I have a chlorine pool at the moment but reading the comments I'm wondering if I can convert it to salt. Is that possible? I assume I'd need to connect a chlorine generator and then just add salt to the water, is that right?

I think many people can be surprised at how quickly a passport fills up these days. My UK passport doesn't expire until 2018 but already only has a couple of pages left. I just got my retirement extension until November 2014 which is what made me notice how few pages remain. No problem at the moment then, but to avoid the OP's predicament I plan to renew my passport in the next few months when I am next in the UK. I am wondering how to get the retirement visa extension transferred so I can get back into Thailand again. Is the procedure to do this at the Thai embassy in London, or to come back to Thailand on a tourist visa and get it done at the immigration office here (I live in Chiang Mai)? I presume the UK authorities don't take the old passport off you. Grateful for any advice on the best procedure.

Religion is the number one cause of deaths worldwide.

More secular bigotry. Check your facts.

http://who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/

These pills may be "safe" for those that take them, they are definitely not safe for the unborn babies they kill!

Oh here we go.

A seed is not a flower.

An acorn's not a tree.

A fetus ain't a baby, so don't lay that one on me.

By the way, the fetus's single cell would possibly have divided not more than a couple of times by the morning after.

And to forestall any similar comments - how about YOU taking on any unwanted kid for the duration of eighteen years if you feel that strongly about it? No, didn't think so

Oh dear, the same old sophistry again. So by the same logic, a baby ain't a toddler, a toddler ain't a child, a child ain't an adolescent, an adolescent ain't a teenager, a teenager ain't an adult .... so killing any one of them before the last stage means no harm done. Using different names for different stages of development doesn't mean it isn't the same entity throughout.

However many cells you are now you wouldn't be around today if someone deleted the first one.

And why should someone else except the parents be expected to take responsibility for an unwanted pregnancy?

Thanks to Mario and Sheryl for your responses. I will follow up on your suggestions.

Cheers,

SB

Sorry if this topic has been addressed before, but I can't find anything that exactly answers my query.

From what I understand, Thais are eligible for free treatment under the government national security healthcare scheme (the basic one) in the area they are shown as registered as living in the 'blue book'. My Thai girlfriend is registered in her family's blue book in Bangkok, but lives with me permanently in Chiang Mai. She is a student and is not covered under any insurance or employment scheme.

We rent a house and don't have a blue book, and the house owner tells me that blue book is not for registering tenants, just the owner. So my question is, what is a Thai national supposed to do in a case like hers if they need treatment after they move permanently to another province and are not shown in any local blue book?

Up to now she has gone to Suan Dok hospital (Maharaj Nakhorn) and has paid the same price as myself for minor treatment, but in case of a more serious illness I would like her to be able to access the government healthcare scheme.

Grateful if anyone can shed some light on this.

Cheers,

SB

chiang mai

All "of topic" but thanks for the laugh !

Stand by to be wiped out !

I'm very serious, I pay X to a visa company that here in Chiang Mai that provides excellent service, they provide me with four 90 day report slips (via email), and a re-entry visa (if I want it) and it all works really well, I notify them if my 90 day report date changes by virtue of travel and the agency staff all speak excellent English.

They will also take care of my O-A visa extention if I ask them to but historically that has always been a simple and trouble free process for me, especially using the online reservation system. Cost of service? Very inexpensive, especially when compared to the frustration and time expended otherwise. Safety? I keep my passport with me at all time and the agency takes copies once a year.

Interesting, might be worth a try. Can you give us the name of the visa company and its location?

I just wanted to add a few comments on the HST course in case anyone is thinking of buying it. My advice would be to go for it. I've been using it now at a leisurely pace for about five months and have really enjoyed it. For me it's just a hobby, as I don't have any real need to speak Thai, but it's nice to be able to read and make sense of the things you see every day in the street, and speak a bit with the locals. I'm about halfway through the course now, at lesson 20, and feel I've got a sound grasp of the structure of the language that I can build on as I complete the rest at whatever pace suits me. The material is very comprehensive, and covers all the main aspects of language learning (speaking, reading, listening) and for someone who wants to go faster there's enough depth in the material to allow that. You can listen to the sound files as often as you like, and I like to loop them while I'm doing odd jobs around the house. This is much better than in a language school, where if you don't catch something in class first time you've probably lost it. Your vocabulary builds up quite nicely, since the course includes new material in a progressive way so you don't forget what went before. Before deciding on HST I looked around at some of the popular books for learning Thai but they were very old-fashioned pedagogically, and I doubt I would have stuck with them for long. I know I'm making some progress now and felt very happy the other day when a Thai friend said with some surprise 'You speak Thai well, not like farang, how you learn?'

-SB