Rasmoo

Okay, so now I'm getting a bit concerned. I've spent my whole life living in Asia as an expat, and when living in Japan in the 1980's as a teenager, we were told we had to carry our "Alien ID card" (love the wording!) at all times. So we did, and we got used to it - it was not our passport, but rather a separate ID issued to all foreigners living in Japan legally. Now I live in Bangkok, between Phrom Pong and Thong Lor. I'm on a non-immigrant B visa, which I got legitimately through one of the wonderful legal firms advertising on this forum (I'm a freelance consultant, so have no other choice w/re to visa). I have no problem carrying a photocopy of my passport and visa page, but I am NOT about to start carrying around my actual passport. Why should I? Are the Thai police going to pay for my new passport if my bag gets snatched in a robbery?? Some people seem to think this whole thing is a joke, but I don't think it's at all funny. Whether they're short on tea money, trying to catch actual criminals, or whatever - I find this all pretty disturbing, especially in light of the current state of government here since May....would really appreciate some hard facts and actual answers on this issue rather than some more BS stories about how this is all a joke. It's certainly not a joke to those who have apparently experienced it....

Hi all,

I'm a woman, not a man (perhaps not many of them on here!!) so no, don't have a Thai wife...no, don't have millions of Baht to start a company and wouldn't have a clue what to do with 4 Thai employees! And I'm 6 years short of being eligible for a retirement visa. And not yet eligible to apply for Aus citizenship. Sigh. So I'm back to square one...unless the Thai NGO can get me a WP (and that's very doubtful), I guess I continue flying under the radar. But do you think flying under the radar becomes a bit easier with a non-immigrant O or A? Rather than continuing down the back to back multiple entry tourist visa route? And perhaps meanwhile the Thai NGO can at least apply for the WP, and my understanding is that as long as it's under consideration, you're allowed to remain (albeit having to go in and out?) So confusing!!

Hi all,

I've posted before about this, and I know several others are in this 'virtual working' situation, but I haven't been able to find the exact info that I'm looking for so please bear with me. I'm a US citizen, permanent residency in Australia. I was previously working in Australia for an Australian NGO, but doing program management for local partner NGOs (monitoring Australian government aid grants) in Thailand and Myanmar. I've decided to move back to Asia, and would like to base myself in Bangkok as it's a good regional hub. I'm consulting with various NGOs - Australian (online), and INGOs in Myanmar and Cambodia. The INGOs in Myanmar and Cambodia are deducting government taxes from my payment, and I'm filing for taxes in Australia. I don't have a Thai bank account (obviously), all payment goes into my Australian bank account, and I'm registered in Australia as a 'sole trader' with an Australian Business Registration. I travel frequently for work, and so had assumed up to now that I could just do multiple entry tourist visas (flights in and out and getting multiple entry at Thai consulates in the region rather than border runs), on the rare occasions that I'm not actually going in and out every 2 months.

Given the current political and visa situation here now, however, I am wondering if it is worthwhile applying for an O visa. I understand from Siam Legal that I would need to return to Australia to apply, that my previous Australian employer who is now contracting me part-time would need to write a letter stating why they need me to be based in the region (covering NGOs in Thailand, Myanmar, and now Philippines), and would also need a supporting letter from one of the Australian NGO's Thailand partners. Siam Legal apparently does B, not O. I know there is no guarantee of receiving the O visa, but I did call the Brisbane consulate and the chap there seemed friendly and seemed to think it wouldn't be difficult to get. And I thought - naively - that this visa would allow me to be working here legally. There is no way that the Australian NGO can get me a work permit, because they are not registered here. The Thailand partner would also be challenged in doing so, because of the nature of the work they are doing they can't even get one-year visas for their own staff. I just don't know if it's worth the expense of a trip back to Australia, plus AUD $225 for the visa, for something that still won't really allow me to do legal work here.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated....I want to do the right thing, above board, happy to pay taxes wherever, but it seems it is next to impossible to do this given my situation.

Cheers

Hi all,

Sorry, maybe my search skills aren't up to scratch, but I can't seem to find anything very recent about applying for a double-entry Thai tourist visa at the Thai embassy in Yangon. US passport, not too many Thai tourist visas yet, but want to go to Yangon for networking and to stay with friends, then be able to come back to Thailand for longer than 30 days. Any ideas on where this info is on this forum, or anyone with recent experiences on what documents are needed? (assume entry and exit flight tickets are needed for each entry...).

Thanks and cheers

Apologies for the semantics, folks....did not mean 'multiple entry' but rather single or double entry. I can arrange to have the necessary tickets for flights to get it in Denpasar, but if Myanmar does double entry maybe I will just go that route as may end up doing some consulting there anyway. Have tried sending Denpasar consulate a tweet but no response, will PM vongbali now.

Thanks for the help, cheers.

Hi there,

Have been here on a 90 day single-entry tourist visa, obtained at Thai consulate in Sydney. Am doing consulting work but mainly for organizations based outside Thailand at this point. While I continue to try and find a way to do this legally (have no problems paying my dues in tax, just show my HOW!!), I need to start doing visa runs. Going to Bali over Songkran - anyone know if they do multiple-entry tourist visas? I can't get the info from the Denpasar consulate website. Alternatively, am considering a short trip to either Myanmar or Cambodia within a month of returning from Bali. Any latest experiences in either of these places with getting a multi-entry tourist? I have contacts in both countries but not people doing these visa runs.

Any help most appreciated, cheers

Hi there,

I'm sure this question has been asked and answered a thousand times but I can't seem to find the info by doing a search through topics. I am a US citizen who migrated to Australia a few years ago on a partner (de factor) visa with my Australian partner (not same sex). The Australian non-profit agency I work for is now looking to relocate me to Thailand in its first regional post - we will be hosted by a partner NGO in-country. The partner NGO will assist me with a work permit and residency permit. My question is this: if my partner and I are not legally married, will we have any hassles getting a residency permit for him? I realize he won't be able to work, so I will be the breadwinner. We've been together for 7 years, co-habiting for most of those, but we have no intentions of getting married.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks! BTW we've both lived in Asia for many years, but in Cambodia, where getting a 'work permit' was much simpler than in Thailand!!

Cheers,

Rasmoo