Timwin

What will they do about diving schools?

An immigration official will be waiting at 40 meters. If you cannot dive that deep, you are DENIED! And you have to speak Thai with correct tones while on Trimix.

According to the new rules, if apprehended even for one day overstay, it is deporting and five year ban! Look it up the next time you go to immigration.

Those "It's about time!" turds still applauding for these new rules might not be so happy if this hits personally. This could happen to anybody, misread or remember incorrectly the last day in the stamp and accidentally then overstays few days. Really f*cked up rule. Then bad luck hits and police stops you, wants to see your passport and BAM!

Things seem to have settled down to almost what it was before the crackdown except with the back to back visa exempt entries. Just like with every crackdown before this one. Two months of hassle and then business as usual.

Hope your visa matters will be solved soon. Just ignore the bitter expats high-horseshitting here. They always came out of the woodwork in threads like these and they would not lift a finger to help a fellow expat.

You are taking care of your sick girlfriend while these pathetic turds make their little speeches about law&order. The irony could not be any greater.

HMMM. So you live in Thailand as you called it HOME several times. You are on a tourist visa. Sounds like you can speak good Thai as you are told be the teacher to speak Thai everywhere but now you want to be on an ED visa.

Sounds to like someone is taking the piss out of the visa system.

People abusing the system often complain when they get bitten by the system.

Abuse the system and then complain "poor me"

Some people here in TV, like these two jokers, automatically assume an ED-visa holder is guilty until proven innocent. So his "sin" is that he speaks too good Thai?!

"After talking to other language schools in Patong, I was cautioned about using [name of school deleted], but I thought this was just salesmanship on their part."

That was your biggest mistake. In Thailand (and also in nearby countries) you unfortunately have to check things out, ask around first before commiting. The cheapest offer is usually too good to be true. With the right people and companies you will get good service but it is a bit of hit and miss.

In visa matters you also have to check the paperwork yourself, sometimes they copy the wrong page from passport or accidentally left out a paper. Also always check the admitted until stamp right away at the immigration control. They will correct it on the spot if incorrect.

Just relax and try your thing. As long as you are not competing or working for Thai companies, you will be ok.

I'd be more worried about business prospects of this idea. Many foreign restaurants have satellite TV channels already and they might no be that interested in a webradio unless it is basically almost free.

Add to that the fact many of foreign restaurants are bleeding money. Most of them will fail within 5 years from start, so webradio is not very high on priorities.

Crackdown on visa exempt entries was NOT targeted against western farangs, it was targeted to all those hundreds of thousands of illegal workers from nearby countries. A Thai employer commented in a newspaper that the ongoing rate used to be about 10000 Baht per year per illegal worker but now it is better to go legal and apply for work permits for them.

I think the part about a 2 month holiday from her studies was the straw that broke the immigration officers back.

She should have at least tried to be less obivious.

Who gives you the right to judge?! WE DO NOT NEED YOUR KINDS OF EXPATS HERE. GO HOME!

It doesn't matter how stringent the laws are imposed, if you are abiding by them you will have nothing to worry about.

If your next door neighbor murders someone do you think the law will think you also become more likely to kill ?

Are there still people like you? WWII ring a bell? You must have skipped the history classes in high school. The Germans had a very well written law framework to persecute all kinds of minorities. Soviet Union had a wonderful constitution. The trouble was no Soviet government official bothered to actually to follow it. More like, we already found the guilty one, now we just have to invent the crimes he is guilty of.

So I wonder does the day come when I get hit up for money? Should I expect that? Because from what I know of them now it doesn't seem very likely. But that may be my naivete.

Most Thais send money to their parents. If you part of the family, you are expected to help at least somewhat. Average Thai salary is 13200 Baht so if they give a thousand here and there, it is not that big deal for you to do the same.

I think she suddenly realized her support system aka large family was not around anymore. So she got very bad culture shock and wanted to return back to "safety". It can be really bad for some people, resembling a mental breakdown. Thais are used to have a lot of people around, coming, staying and going, being part of ant colony.

How did the marihuana laws got changed in many US states? Because so many Americans openly smoked, regardless of the law. Rosa Parks decades before refused to give her seat to a white passenger and all that...

If most of the expats and foreign workers in Thailand marched tomorrow to Bangkok and demanded changes to visa laws, either we would all be deported or the Thai government would actually listen. It would be quite a gamble but so it goes. Not going to happen because it would be like herding a bunch of pampered cats.

Ouch! Sounds like we've struck a nerve. Relative moralism raises its ugly head: "I can do bad because others are doing worse."

In your world, refusing to obey a command is the greatest sin but in the civilian world it is sometimes vital to do so. Otherwise, we would be still bowing to the feudal lords. Visas and permits are just administrative procedures.

Take for example that Norwegian chiropractor with very satisfied customer base. Well, he worked without work visa and got recently deported. The end result: No more fantastic and must sought after service available and many customers unhappy. Because there are very few Thais with that same level of expertise.

Thailand would actually benefit greatly with more relaxed visa rules for farangs. European nations benefitted greatly when they let go of the 1970's strict border and permit for this and that world. It went as far as measuring how much petrol a truck had in the tanks because you were only allowed to cross the border with certain set maximum amount.

Then there is the forbidden job list for farangs in Thailand. Thais certainly do not have similar list when they move to USA or EU. Or restrictions about company or land ownership. Or 90 day reporting.

That is so ironic. Average Thai salary is about 13200 Baht per month (Q2/14). So they are demanding from foreign students to have twice that amount.

I believe a hard-line stance is needed. Enough of these need some serious jail time so that the consequences of these actions becomes fully understood. Only then when "hope" is given, it is appreciated and respected.

This isn't 1950's. Americans have used those populist "zero tolerance" and "three strikes" laws and still it is a serious crime infested shithole compared to most western European countries with emphasis on rehabilitation of criminals. California spends yearly more money to prisons than to higher education.

Well, there is always the next boss. You get your local crackdowns (every new police chief) too. After two months things usually go back to normal.

330 000 dollar investment just to stay in Thailand!? You could get that Thai Elite 5 year visa for "only" 500000, 17000 dollars. And then spend 313000 to girls and parties

Actually if you want clarification of what was said send "NancyL" a pm, she was there at the meeting, so not my biased opinion at all... I am not your research butler go an look it up if you dont believe me, she has already commented on what was said.

They are most likely not going to go after the digital nomads on tourist or whatever visas, earning 10-20 times more than average Thai. It would be foolish to do so, going after those golden gooses, volutarily spending money in Thailand. If they start arresting them, they just move on to another country.

Work permit and all that really do not matter because they are not working for Thai companies or customers. Work permits are used to protect Thai jobs in Thailand or that is the idea anyway.

A TV poster was at that meeting and apparantly what has been written has been misquoted and taken out of context, the question asked and response given related to legitimate tourists who were on holiday in Thailand and the legality of checking their work email/and making skype calls to their companies they work for, it appears no mention of people living in Thailand full time and running on line business's from Thailand was made, also the remark stated was an "off the cuff" remark and did not infer official policy.

That is just your biased opinion. It must be pissing you off really bad that there are digital nomads out there. "They must be illegally working because I worked my ass off for 30 years on the road and that ain't right! They must suffer like I did!".

No WP available under the visa/labour rules of that country? Then that's life - you need to move on and find a country where you don't break the visa/WP regulations

How many those online workers have been arrested in Thailand? I have not found even one news article. It is always some dude working in a Thai office for Thais. People have asked Thai immigration and have told openly about their online work and their overseas income at border immigration control, no problems in either case.

There is a new article just out by the Chiang Mai Mail that may be clearer with the below statement - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/754414-immigration-clarifies-new-regulations-for-foreigners-in-chiang-mai/

"He noted that online work for overseas companies that pay overseas is not prohibited but that the person will need to get a visa to stay longer, currently there is no new visa for these kinds of people."

So an online worker can work under tourist visa or any other visa. It is not prohibited. This makes sense, the money coming from overseas is a nice extra bonus for the country.