Markphuket

Go immigration and extend for a

further 30 days before having to do your first boarder run 

10 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

Why not do it more legally (not any scam component as in not volunteering) by applying for an ED Visa in your home country and securing the visa prior to entering LOS, and attending school a few hours a week.

If you think this is a viable option and you stay on Phuket try BKK Language School (Patong). Khun Gag the CEO is a decent enough guy. Good 1:1 teaching too. Google will find it easily for you.

A few years back when I did the ED Visa route as a test run of living there before returning to home country to make retirement visa application and returning to live permanently it was a great way to learn language and assimilate more easily. 

Back then it was possible to renew for another year at years end (not sure as to this 2nd year extension now). Reporting to Phuket Town IO every 90 was easy as Gag did all this, all you had to dow as turn up pay the renewal fee @ 1900 baht plus the extra creative fee processes fee ???? (nudge nudge) to make sure it was renewed. 

From my correspondence with a few school last month unless anything changed you can’t apply for a ED visa outside Thailand at the moment.

i was told I had to come in on a tourist visa and convert within Thailand to get a ED visa by all school I contacted in Phuket at the current time.

The prices being quoted were not cheap and involved a 5,000 extension fee every 3 months at immigration also.

Thankfully we have the STV option repeated that covers how long I need to stay so didn’t follow up the ED visa route any further.

but unless anything changed it a very expensive option at the moment.

5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Reckon so. If you are single and under 50 your options will be limited.

Elite visa at 500,000 for 5 years????

Or I’m sure will get cracked down on but educational visa via an agent

Found out today Passport ready for collection means it’s in the post as the London Embassy today provided me the tracking and were very helpful 

sadly Royal Mail next day guaranteed delivery isn’t guaranteed...... so tomorrow is do or die for me hoe to god it arrives back.

8 hours ago, greggraham said:

This was useful, thanks. 

 

I sent my passport off with a pre-paid/labelled special delivery envelope inside, it arrived at the embassy on Monday. Today (Wednesday) the visa tracking is saying "Ready to collect passport" and my Royal Mail tracking isn't on the system yet. Do I just hold my nerve a bit longer or did I do something wrong? 

I’d like know same answer as I sent mine on Thursday received Friday and have the same ready to collect message. Hopeful I’ll receive tomorrow In post as I fly on Monday. But I’ve emailed, will be making the panic calls them tomorrow if still nothing received in tomorrow mornings post.

39 minutes ago, BritTim said:

My suspicion is that there is no actual change to the visa. However, if he tries to enter again at the same airport using this visa, they may well deny him entry. I suspect they were trying to claim that he would not be admitted at any crossing using this visa, which I believe is currently not true.

Is my suspicion also

Thank you for all the replies and info

Question

Currently i just do all my international transfer between uk and thb bank account by international transfer via my bank as it easy enough when i was first in Thailand. But want to look at transferring money in the future using a currency exchange company to get a better exchange rate on my incoming funds.

Anyone have any recommendations of who you use to do your transfers that i can have a look at? If any on does have any recommendations, please write the web address so i can take a look, thanks

Is site traffic slow? why would you post such a topic/poll???

If its not a 180 day without leaving its not a 6 month visa, multiple entry on 30 or 60 or even 90 days required leaving to return is NOT a 6 month visa... its a multiple entry visa and weve had that for decades and only had it stopped last year..

We shall see with the detail but I dont see many tourists paying 5000b to leave the country 3x and pay for all that travel on top just to come back again and repeat... naa thats for people living and working in Thailand....

Tourists wont waste their money on a visa they dont need, even backpackers wont bother since they may as well get a single for free, extend that a few times then just travel on to other countries and get another free one when they finally get back to Thailand.

Im betting this is going to be no more than the old multiple visa rebadged as a long term tourist visa... it just wont be used by many tourists thats all

Yup, what you wrote is exactly how i end up seeing this new visa actually being and people will be sticking with visa on arrival or double or triple tourist visa which are cheaper

Been thinking about this... 6 months multi entry at 5000 baht as opposed to......... a double entry tourist visa that cost about 2500 baht with the extension at immigration x2 2000 = 6500.

I take it with the new visa same any other multi after 3 months you will have to do your bounce still, so only different will be saving two trips to immigration to extending saved if you had a tourist visa and about 1500baht.......

So to me its just some repackaging of something already on offer, unless I'm missing something.... i might have

so not getting to excited about this till more details come out.

Nice and vague......... could be promising but won't get to excited

In pattaya visa extension fee is now 5000

Nope, the visa fee is still 1900......... the rest is **** VIP/Tea/bribe/extortion/ripoff/scam/bung/TIT/.......you fill in the black, service money

Some previous quiz include

- Counting

- say the date

- write you name in Thai

But if it's your first ED visa,they tend to be lenient.

I could talk about nuclear physics in Thai with them all day long, but reading and writing I am limited to things like 'pom chuu <insert name> krap or 'kao ja bpai nai? kao ja bpai dtalat' - and more stuff similar to that. I can spell my own name in Thai, I first learned the numbers before any words and can count to infinity in Thai, the date is also easy, easy to say but for me to write not so. I can write 'pom mai koa jai krap' though This is the thing, EVERYONE is different, I have learned how to speak very fast but reading and writing has taken longer, they do not have a test in place that is fair for everyone because 1. we all learn at different paces and 2. 3 months is not the same as 3 years.

That brings me on to my next point, I have been on ED for 3 years now so immigration are going to love me, I can't wait. When I get angry at Thai authority I often can keep it hidden, but sometimes my Thai tongue can slip. If they deny me I may have to give them a sly word that will leave a bitter taste in their mouth for the rest of the day. Anyway, anybody here with ED experience and Hua Hin immigration?

What is your secret for learning Thai so well?

Everyone tells me get a Thai gf, but they are always want to improve their English and not want to speak Thai

I am trying to speak Thai more with the locals.

One thing i didnt think about till a few weeks ago, it depends where in Thailand you live and the ability of english of the Thais around you. I live in Phuket and if you try to start talking to them in Thai and they dont understand any little bit what you said, they will quickly turn the conversation into english.

Last week i was in bkk for a week and i found the people where i was, were happy to talk just thai with me even getting little bits wrong. As most of them i could tell their level of english was more basic then my level of Thai, so gave me a much better opportunity to use my thai skills.

I think if in a more rural area the surrounding would mean the need for thai would be greater and naturally speed up learning, opposed to tourist areas where the level of english is much higher and less need to actually speak thai

Obviously having a Thai partner helps, i can see the difference in my class between the people who have partners and the people like me who not had a long term thai gf. The one period i was living with a thai GF, she would always grab my books and test me etc. This is when my thai learning speed was at its quickest.

End of the day, except these stupid tests learn thai at the speed that suits you. Regardless some of the rubbish written on here no one should judge someone how fast they should learn a language as long as they want to learn that language and putting effort into it.

Example being i be first to admit English my first language I'm not perfect with spelling and grammar as i suffer from dyslexia so I'm still trying to improve my english also.

To me it seems like a multiple entry tourist visa or ED visa are the best options. I wouldn’t mind to learn some Thai, but the requirements seem to be pretty strict. 8 hours per week instead of 4 hours. Also having to apply for a re-entry permit if I wanna leave Thailand. I would also like to travel every now and then, so leaving Thailand every 3 months is not an issue.

The ED visa is NOT an option for you since you're not willing to study the required hours for this visa. If you change your mind & it is, then the visa could be for you.

I didn't write anywhere that I'm absolutely not willing to study the required 8 hours per week. I just wrote that the requirements are strict. Two different things

Yea ignore that above comment, to many people think on here anyone looking at an ED visa is just another person looking to abuse the system.

But in regards your actual question, my back ground might help you out as I have been on a education visa for nearly 2 years. Im actually 90% certain that I'm going to come off the education and move to the tourist visa, instead of extending for my 3rd year.

As you already stated and been documented the hours have changed from 4 to 8 hours a week. That isn't a concern for me, but more concerns me and i think would concern you is that you could be tested for you thai spoken, written and reading ability when passing through immigration at any re-entry back into Thailand. There seem to be no uniform standard producer at airport immigration of how you will be tested. Its more how the immigration judges you level of thai on his own personal level

There is 1-2 cases on Thaivisa of people claiming they have been rejected entry back into Thailand and sent back to their country of origin because their level of thai wasn't at an acceptable level for the amount of time they had studied thai.

For me the extra hours you have to study, the cost of education visa compared to tourist visa is going to give little or no benefit. But also for extending a tourist visa, its a lot less hassle and a lot less paper work then the educational visa

Also lastly people have speculated that there might be language school that will be forced to close because of these changes in this transitional time. If you pay for you lessons and visa up front and the school goes bust. You run the risk of loosing your money and visa.

This is why its my plan to move to the tourist visa and continue my studies at 2-3 times a week as at the moment i dont have the faith in the educational visa. I hope this info helps you.

sounds pretty bad, basically they suspect a lot of people on ED visa from language schools to be criminals and drug consumers. Unless I misunderstand it. Time for me to change visa or go to a university for language courses.

reading the translation is very funny "As now we have many foreigners enrolled to learn thai language course to improve the skill of their occupation. This may lead to an opportunity of creating criminals or drugs by using the type of non immigration ed visa to study in the thai language."

So it nothing about nomads, people who dont attend classes or people suspected working on a ed visa.......... They are worried if you attend a language school. It will give us the thai language ability required to go out and be master criminals or drug lords....

I understand it same as you Robert..... But worry that Uni courses they might suspect you of worse like learning bomb making, human trafficking or terror attacks.

I had my first extension (3-month mark) on Thursday and he told me to come back for next extension(month 6-9 period of 1 year) in March. I received my visa prior to the changes in Early September, so confused as to what will happen in March.

This entire visa system is a fiasco. i think not one country in the world is amending their visa rules as fast as the current power base here.

Total lack of consistency of regulation enforcement and information at borders/immigration offices/information from schools.

You pay on the basis of 1 year's study and then they just rip everything up. No integrity whatsoever.

Probably best be prepared when you come in March that they could say no you can't extend & need to leave the country after your initial 6 months & re-apply for another ED visa for an additional 6 months again. It's like Russian Roulette these days.

No, I'll just get a double tourist visa. Not worth the hassle.

Cheaper all-in as well if this 6 months and out rule is enforced on all students who got their visa before the new rule....

I will be doing exactly the same, not worth the hassle.......... plus you can pay all that money for your lessons and what stopping your school going bust in the next year losing your money and your visa. Well documented some school will and we all know, no refunds especially if they your at a school that has to close down.

Im going home for some of low season, then back on tourist visa.......... not because its cheaper, just because i have zero trust now in the ed visa

I don't want to say I am an expert but there is certainly no other person who has helped more people to enjoy the Thai culture and learn the language along with long term stay in Thailand. Stating a simple fact. If I am not the expert then i don't know who is.

Clearly you have a vested interest in ed visas. You stated in one post that it was normal to miss a class here and there. What reporting of attendance, if any, is made by your school to immigration. The OP ,stated he was/is enrolled in your school and never attended. Another person stated that it was not uncommon to see new face every week and not see them in class. ED visas are a joke. Let's find out the real % of people using them for the intended purpose. I would love some TV members to put their hand up re attendance for a straw poll.

The OP was refused entry not because of lack of funds, but for abusing the system. By his own statements of the facts, the IO got it right. Keep it up IO well done!

For straw poll I cant talk for every school in Thailand but there are no hard figures to actually how much or how little educational visa are actually being abused in Thailand I've seen yet, its all purely been speculation of people on here.

Coming from one of the people who attend school, I've missed maybe 4 classes this whole year. In the group i study with about 12-14 people there is only one person who regally doesn't attend the class. The rest of my class turn up as regally as me i can say honestly.

Im not saying this represents the complete picture of Thailand and maybe I'm just at one of the better school, Im not saying people dont abuse the visa, but i dont think we should believe the majority of people abuse the visa without any evidence to support this also.

A lot of people talk about those wonderful cheap tourist visas, so I guess the assumption is that you will be able to get those double and triple entry tourist visas forever, right? Those who complain so much about ED visas and how much trouble going to school is etc. might be up for a very hard landing in the near future. Remember my words. Shortsightedness of future toursit visa issues of some members is embarrassing.

From someone fronting your business id thought you know better then to call people names. This is because i was one of the people saying I'm looking to move across onto a tourist visa...... but i also said i intended to carry on learning thai so i dont think you have to right to call any member embarrassing, unless you know there full plans, circumstances and situation going forward.

Also i and i think many other in the same position know that there will be a focus on tourist visa also going forward, Maybe not all but the majority of people who are going to change to tourist visa's, are going to change so they are on the correct visa or because of the lack of faith now in the educational visa....... how that embarrassing?!?!

If you want to talk about shortsightedness and embarrassing i could share a story my school told me about yours..... but same as you dont know the member posting personaly and I'm not at your school personally i know better then to make "shortsighted" comments

Just to let you know i am in the same boat as you, I've been on ED visa but like you i planning to move over to a double entry visa. Plan to continue my thai lessons but not at the frequency of 5 days a week hence the decision to change.

But I'm kind of worried about that route also now because in theory the double entry visa its going to be a much cheaper and easier visa to use then the education visa. Because the costs are cheaper and the amount of paper work that goes along with it much less.

Will this be cracked down on also is my worry as i would believe a lot of people will now move over to this type of visa from the educational visa.

Ultimately i think i would be for the first time since I've been living here abusing the system as i would be using a tourist visa for studying thai, and not for actual tourism.

So hope someone can answer your question for both of us

I know that new government has imposed new restrictions about ED visa. Before there was no need to go to school, you paid the agency 15,000 baht for Non Immigrant Visa + 15,000 for ED school . Now, at the airport , they need to see : tuition fee, school attendace register signed by a teacher and homework done, (didn't know about thai skills too)...

As someone before me said, it's cheaper to get a double entry Tourist visa . The only disadvantage is doing the trips to Cambodia and Laos.

Think might have been me as i will be moving off my eduction visa next year to a double entry tourist visa....... but will actually still continue my thai studies also.

Along with wanting to still learn to become more fluent in thai along with living in Thailand, i want to support my school and teachers with their jobs.