skatewash

One would imagine that if one were interested in satisfying all the requirements for something and a document lists 2 requirements in one place and 3 requirements in another place that the prudent course of action might be to prepare to meet all 3 requirements in case the third requirement was mistakenly left off from one of the places. The principle of parsimony would suggest that it is more likely that a requirement was omitted rather than one was added unnecessarily.

Completely wrong. Really irresponsible advice that could cause people foolish enough to follow it to not get their next retirement extension. National policy for retirement extension using bank deposit is as follows: At least 800k balance at least 2 months before application At least 800k balance at least 3 months after receiving extension At least 400k balance at all times This is checked when you apply for your next retirement. That is one of the purposes for immigration needing to see a 12-month bank statement (or copies of 12-months worth of pages from your passbook). To see that you have complied with your current retirement extension financial requirements. If you haven't you will almost certainly not be approved for your new retirement extension. Compliance is checked retrospectively.

Yeah, should have made it clear you are only getting a booking or reservation not an actual ticket. You won't be able to actually use the reservation or booking to get a ticket but it is enough to satisfy airline check-in staff.

Getting a 30-day extension of stay for purposes of tourism is indeed as close to a sure thing as you can get. The requirements are almost non-existent and there is really nothing to prove to immigration. If you will be staying in hotels, which do the address notification (TM-30) for you, there is really no potential problem with getting this particular extension. The airline problem can be solved by renting an onward ticket. For example, https://onwardticket.com/. Google onward tickets for other alternatives. The cost for most is around $10, which gives you proof of an onward ticket to show airport check-in staff that will satisfy their concern and allow you to board. Thai immigration in Thailand will not raise the same concern.

Yes, but the point I was making was in regard to needing to show your legal permission to stay. My point was if you are handed someone's passport it's not difficult to determine whether that person has legal permission to stay. If showing legal permission to stay were a requirement it would be met simply by handing over your passport, there would be no need to ask for any other documentation to satisfy this requirement.

The only time the TM-30 is needed is before you conduct business with immigration (such as requesting an extension of stay). If you aren't doing business with immigration during your stay no (practical) need to file a TM-30. For example, you arrive in Thailand visa exempt and leave again within the 45 day permission to stay. No need to bother with a TM-30 filing. Another example, you arrive in Thailand visa exempt and need to stay 75 days. You will need to go to immigration to apply for a 30 day extension of stay for purpose of tourism. Some immigration offices would required you to have filed a TM-30 before you request the 30 day extension.

Surely your passport would indicate your visa status would it not?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question but if you are using an income verification letter from your embassy or consulate (meaning you are not American, British, or Australian), then there is no requirement to show anything specific regarding money transferred into Thailand. It is required that you do the following: Supporting documents of the income may be requested by the immigration officer.Copy bank book name page and last 12 months transactions. (It is strongly advised to copy all used pages as this is often requested by the officers.)

I don't believe you can get the new Bivalent Covid Booster shot yet in Thailand. It may become available in the new year.

First place to go is Phuket.win and select the yellow option at the bottom of the page: "Booster Dose Vaccination Appointments for Foreigners" If not able to get an appointment, there is a walk-in clinic at Vachira Hospital. However, the schedule for October has ended. I imagine there will be a schedule for November. I am referring to this graphic which is attached. Take a look at it using Google Lens translate for detailed information. Basically it is saying there is a walk-in clinic at Vachira Hospital most weekdays from 09:30 - 11:00 for Adults who wish to receive the Pfizer jab. I would wait for the November schedule to come out, but my guess is that it will be similar to October. This was taken from the top of the page you see at Phuket.win site.

Open to motorcycles. I don't think it will be opened to cars in the next few weeks. Cars require more space than motorcycles. https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/patong/motorbikes-can-now-drive-on-patong-hill-road?utm_source=Thaiger+Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2022-10-28

The OP is staying in Phuket Town, visiting Patong. When he returns home (if by Kata-Chalong Road) he will have two (2) lanes on Kata Hill. Kata Hill is restricted to one lane of traffic only in the Chalong to Kata direction, which he will not be using on his return to Phuket Town.

Not sure which "landslide hill" you are referring. There's no way the Patong-Kathu road will be open to any vehicular traffic. The Kata-Chalong road is fine in the direction toward Chalong (on the way to Phuket Town). It's one lane only in the opposite direction. Traffic will not be heavy in any case at the time of night the OP is considering.

Motorcycle taxi but hard to find in Patong. Taxi is best bet under the circumstances, possibly using Grab or In-driver.

You might want to mention which immigration office you will be using.

Of those three routes the Kamala/Surin one would be most affected with higher traffic, followed by the one going between Patong and Chalong (through Kata), and least of all the one going between Patong and Rawai. Again, no detouring, just higher traffic levels and therefore potentially taking a little more time to get around.

Yes. The routes you mention (1-3) are all accessible from Patong without any detouring required at all. However, bear in mind that the Patong-Kathu road (the main road into Patong carrying about 80% of all traffic into and out of Patong) will almost certainly be closed or restricted, meaning that the routes you mention will all have correspondingly more traffic that would otherwise be using that closed/restricted route. Also, note that the Kata-Chalong road has construction on it (restricted to one lane in the Chalong to Kata direction) due to a road slip that occurred more than a year ago. That one, a smaller landslide than the recent one in Patong, has been under reconstruction for well over a year. Traffic between Kata and Chalong has been light, but that will probably increase due to detours from the closed Patong-Kathu road. So, basically, other than experiencing higher traffic (and therefore perhaps delays) on the routes you mention you should be otherwise unaffected by the current situation.

It's true that some Land Transport Offices will only accept Certificates of Residence as proof of address. Phuket was like that up until a few years ago. Now they accept yellow house registration (tabian bahn) books as well.

More or less the same requirements at my local office in Phuket. My office was pretty lenient in terms of translations. I was not required to get my passport translated into Thai (it was in English). They also used documentation that was used to register my ownership of the condo at the Land Office (which included things like my name and parent's names in Thai). So, in my case, the translation issues were relatively relaxed. I was surprised at how formal the interviews of my two witnesses were, felt like a legal proceeding in court. ????

My experience is that I receive by mail a property tax bill from my local tessaban office (I believe in other areas it may come from the amphoe office). Not surprisingly it is only in Thai, but Google Lens does a decent job of translating. I've been paying this tax for three years. I take my property tax bill and yellow tabian bahn to my local tessaban office (you may need to visit your amphoe office in your location). There is a property tax room in the tessiban building in my case. I go to that room and present my documents, am told what tax is due (also reflected on the documentation), and I pay that amount for which I receive a receipt. The property tax started out very small as a large portion of it was waived (I believe in recognition of covid). It was under 100 baht. I am now paying the full amount, but it is still well under 1,000 baht. I believe there is a nationwide framework for allowable property tax rates, but each locality is able to decide what the tax rates are for their locality so long as it is permitted under the national framework, that is, doesn't exceed the allowable national property tax rates. There is a penalty for late payment but is a very small fee based on the amount due. My experience getting my yellow tabian bahn: I obtained mine from my local tessaban office (but I understand that in most areas one would have to go to their local amphoe office). I was handed a printed booklet of requirements. One of the requirements was having the blue tabian bahn for the property, which I had. I did not have a lot of issues with translation because many things had been done previously by my developer on my behalf when I registered the ownership of my condo at the Land Office. I did not have to get anything translated (I understand this is usually not the case) but was able to re-use the information from my Land Office documentation. Some of what they were interested in is translation of your full name into Thai. This had been done by my developer when the original Sales & Purchase agreement was written. They also needed the names of my parents translated into Thai. I was able to do this myself (using Google search) as there were standard Thai translations for my parent's first names. Therefore I had no translation issues at my particular tessaban. I did have to obtain a Residence Certificate from immigration (a bit ironic since I was getting a yellow tabian bahn to be able to skip needing to get Residence Certificates ???? ). The most onerous requirements was the production of two Thai witnesses who knew me (and they needed to present their Thai National ID cards and blue tabian bahn books). They had to appear for a formal interview at the Tessaban. A written transcript was produced of the questions and answers which the witnesses had to sign. Questions included how long the witnesses had known me. How they knew where I lived. My witnesses were people who worked for the developer in the condominium office. It took several hours for them to appear as witnesses on my behalf. I was expecting it to be quicker, but they didn't complain (at least to me). There was no cost to getting the yellow tabian bahn, but I did give my witnesses small gifts in recompense for their time in appearing for me at the tessaban interview. The process of getting a yellow tabian bahn differs (wildly) depending on your locality. In some it is relatively easy (as it was in my case), and in some it is seemingly impossible. You will only find out if you ask your local tessaban/amphoe office.

Judging from the OP you purchased a freehold condominium unit. When you registered your ownership of the condo unit at the Land Office you should have been given a blue house registration book (tabian bahn). This blue tabian bahn should list the address but will not have your name entered into it as you are not a Thai citizen. Your name indicating you reside at your condo can only be entered into a yellow house registration book (tabian bahn for non-Thais). To obtain your yellow tabian bahn your amphoe is requiring you to present your blue tabian bahn. This is not a Catch-22 situation. You should have received a blue tabian bahn when you registered your condo unit with the Land Office. You need to show that blue tabian bahn (and any other requirements your amphoe may have) when you apply for your yellow tabian bahn. If you haven't received your blue tabian bahn you should first talk with your condo juristic person and then you may need to go to the Land Office and have it issued there. I have had a yellow tabian bahn for years. Even though I live in my condo unit (and that is the only place I live) I decided not to pursue the property tax exemption. For me the property tax was a very small amount of money. As a practical matter it did not seem worth my time to pursue the exemption. The yellow book has been useful when dealing with the Land Transport Office (in lieu of a Residence Certificate from immigration) and when opening bank accounts it demonstrates place of residence, and is a requirement for getting a pink ID card. So it has been a convenience, but not a necessity. If you are finding the process of getting a yellow tabian bahn onerous you might want to consider if it's worth the effort.

Getting an Australian issued IDP can be done online with delivery by mail to Thailand. The "International Driver's Licenses" are not backed by any convention or treaty as apposed to an International Driving Permit, which is. No one has to accept your "International Driver's Licence," they carry no authority. While signatories to the various IDP conventions (1968, 1949). of which Thailand is one, are obligated to accept actual IDPs. Drivers must obtain their IDP from the organization authorized by their home country. https://www.aaa.asn.au/international-motoring/international-driving-permits/

Two things that make the flash flooding in Phuket not as bad as it could be: The same areas (low-lying, poor drainage) are affected over and over again. If it's raining hard you know which areas are likely to flood. The waters do drain fairly quickly (usually). It's unusual for an area to still be flooded the next day after a flash flood. It's still bad if one has to travel during the flash flood, many people who don't live here don't know the flood prone areas, and sometimes there's no good alternative (the Airport-Phuket Town Road in Thalang, for example).

The first video in the OP is indeed Patong, but the second video is taken in Phuket Town at the intersection of Phuket and Phang Nga Roads.

Regarding #2, if you mean you cannot get a Thai license and skip the practical driving and written tests without an IDP, I would agree with that in general. There may be some Land Transport Offices that will let an applicant skip the practical driving and written tests without an IDP, but many require it. However, it is still possible for an applicant to apply for a Thai driving license without having any existing driving license by simply passing all the tests: practical driving, written, and the physical tests (reaction time, light color recognition, etc.). The advantage of having the IDP when applying for a Thai driving license at the LTO is that they will waive the requirements for the practical driving and written driving tests.