hawker9000

Many owners feel that fulfilling their obligation to do the TM30 "puts them on the radar" as taxable income recipients and therefore resist doing it (and will usually plead total ignorance if approached).  It's also difficult to complete a TM30 without the involvement of the owner.  As mentioned above, in Jomtien, this translates to passing the buck to the renter.  (So, if I need a 30d extension for example, I just plan on a couple of days stay in a hotel up in Bangkok; Chaengwattana is easier to deal with...)

BUT, legally, if a TM30 is required, it's not only required, but required within 24hrs of arrival.   I doubt if many renters who just make their reservations online before they leave home know anything about it or have the first clue. And trust me, checking in they will NOT be told.

A "legal" way?  It has to be a "legal" way?

Well, if you're going to split hairs...

On ‎10‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 9:38 AM, ThaiWai said:

They should set up an online appointments calendar like the US embassy.  Done.

"Online"?  You mean like a "reservation system"?  With actual computers?  And someone trained to operate the system and the computers??  And then someone else standing by to process the applicants when they show up for their appointments??   Every day???

Hmm.  OK.  I think they should set up an automatic system that dispenses DIY fill-in-the-blank visas with 1000B notes attached...

3 hours ago, manonthemon said:

Well, this is complete paranoia. She also asked the officer for other suggestions on what visa to use to on in order to get the additional documents requested by the embassy. No reply but more abuse. 

Not paranoia at all.  Furthermore, showing attitude to the IO wasn't such a hot idea either.  IOs don't make decisions on granting visas.  The embassies and consulates do that.  Different governmental depts. entirely.  IOs simply decide whether to permit or not permit entry - based on the regulations pertaining to the visa being presented.  Her trying to put it all on the IO was a terrible idea.  She's very fortunate to have been let in if he had any suspicion of her working illegally, which on a tourist visa she would've been/will be; I'm actually kind of surprised.   But she WAS allowed to enter and the IO's questioning her was entirely appropriate.

If there's any question of paranoia here, it certainly doesn't rest with the IO...   Arrivals have been turned away based on far less.

11 minutes ago, transam said:

Nice deflection, well yeh, but I don't think so as we are all pretty much anonymous here..Folk can slag off but actually be the same as the topic subject.....Emicons do come in handy to say a thousand words..

...or replace more intelligent discussion.

8 minutes ago, transam said:

Reads here like folk are looking at others and do not realise what they themselves look like through the eyes of others.....

A nice deflection...     And it just wouldn't be the same without the cute oversized emoji.

On ‎10‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 6:44 PM, Pilotman said:

Why do so many Farangs walk and ride about shirtless off the beach areas?  Okay, if you  are lucky enough to look like Adonis on a good day then maybe you have some justification and pride in your own body ( although I would save it for the beach and pool)  but the ones I  inevitably see are old, fat and  look ridiculous. I saw one in  SCG yesterday and  another two in Tesco the day before.  I could hear the Thais talking about them and  their appearance in the most derogatory terms.  I just dont get it. 

Why?  Because some just get it into their pointy little heads that they're "entitled" to wear what they please anywhere and everywhere in a "beach town".   'Can't blame the locals at all for their reaction to such in-their-faces slovenliness from foreigners.  I avoid these orcs myself.

Girl:  you're getting a lot of noise here.  I strongly recommend you listen to ubonjoe on this embassy question.

13 hours ago, Aditi Sharma said:

Do they lock up women separately at the immigration detention centre (IDC)? How long can they hold you in there? Good God, it seems you can be in there for as long as 5 years!!! So one is basically an undertrial right? How can The Girl inform the South African embassy when she is sent there - God Forbid. And what can the embassy do to get her out of there?

Sorry I couldnt help relating this to this other story on the forum:  Overstay: Flight booked but not enough money to pay fine.

"How can The Girl inform the South African embassy when she is sent there - God Forbid. And what can the embassy do to get her out of there?"

'Don't know about the answer to the 1st question, but the answer to the 2nd is along the lines of 'not much'.  If you're in the IDC, it's usually because you lacked the funds to pay either your fine or airfare or both, so unless your embassy is going to produce those funds for you (which embassies simply don't do in most cases), then there's nothing else it can do to get you out. They CAN maybe contact relatives back home.

legal problems + insolvent is not a good combination for foreigners in Thailand.

2 minutes ago, Aditi Sharma said:

It is a hole. But will you call it a crisis? 

I would define "crisis" as "critical",  And, yes, I would call this "critical".  For me, it would be.  'Certainly worth pawing material possessions to avoid imprisonment.

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

You should note I wrote in your situation. It is not something I would normally advise but they are between a rock and a hard place.

There are risks of course. The random check on the school is not big. I don't know how many hundreds of people are working at those type of schools on tourist visas but you don't hear much about them being caught.

Well, Girl, UJ IS the universally acknowledged expert here on all things immigration.  If he says it's a risk but not a big risk, I certainly wouldn't argue that point.   It's still not something I would do in your situation, but I'm particularly risk averse, and the thought of spending time in the IDC would have me pawning a kidney if that's what it took to get out without further upping the ante.   So, up to you.

Just now, Aditi Sharma said:

Hawker9000, I would define as crisis as something where you havent yet fallen into the hole. Wouldnt you agree?

She's lost her passport, on a 6mo+ overstay, and not enough money to pay the fine.   THAT's a HOLE, wouldn't YOU agree??

First rule of crisis management:   When you find yourself in a deep hole, STOP DIGGING!

Just now, The Girl said:

Hawker, I understand that you are concerned. May you please be practical. How would you propose I leave the country, knowing my situation, I have an ETD and 10k? I have to leave in 2 weeks. I am not shying away from my wrongful doing, well non-doing in the case.

Oh don't get me wrong.  It's totally up to you which course of action to take.  If you think it "impractical" to pawn your stuff in order to get out legally, that's entirely your decision.  For me, "practical" would be getting out without subjecting myself to any further risk.  I would NOT like a stay at the IDC because some cop decided to make a random check, or for some other reason decided to check my status only to discover that I was not only working illegally, but doing so while on a significantly lengthy overstay...   You wouldn't be trying to convince ME you were doing the "practical" thing: you'd be trying to convince HIM (or a judge...).   But that's just me.   It's totally up to you.

2 minutes ago, Aditi Sharma said:

She's up shit's creek anyway, I guess he's just suggesting a way out of it.

Pawn her stuff;  that's the other way out, WITHOUT violating the law and taking a significant risk!

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

I would say go for the work in your situation. Just be carefull. 

Save pawing your stuff as a last resort if you come up short.

You're advising her to knowingly violate the law?!  'Knowing what could happen if there's some random check and she gets caught??  I have to say, that surprises me, UJ.

8 minutes ago, The Girl said:

I have not started. Would you recommend I don't start at all and pawn my stuff, rather? I desperately need 10k in any way possible. It is very easy to overlook getting caught when you just want to make it out of Thailand in one piece. I was wrong I know, but I am trying not to fuel the fire. 

If you can raise enough money by pawning things + whatever else friends or relatives are contributing, that would be preferable to the risk of trying to work illegally while on overstay, yes.  IMO anyway.   I'm not sure anyone here can advise you authoritatively on the odds, but I think it's fairly safe to say the stakes would be fairly high...

8 minutes ago, The Girl said:

Yeah, my boss said she needs me for 2 weeks until she finds a replacement. I am being as careful as I can. Can you please tell me why are Thai agents and Thai managers give little care about the legality and formalities of hiring someone like me? I asked for a job and explained my situation - she literally asked when can I start? I will let you know if I make it out of Thailand.

I suppose because they know you're desperate.  Happy enough is quite correct:  get caught working without a permit AND while on overstay and you'll have fallen out of the frying pan and into the fire.  I wish someone could offer you some straightforward and foolproof solution to your predicament, but leaving the country ASAP using your ETD and money given you, without digging any MORE holes, is I think the best anyone here can advise. 

'Can't help but speculate that the OP overstayed by so much and then can't tolerate a year's ban because he has either a family, a gf, a permanent residence, and/or an illegal job perhaps with no place really to go back to in his home country for an entire year.  And while he doesn't provide any details (which is just as well), I wouldn't know but wouldn't be surprised to learn it's all on tourist visas.   Certainly there are other possibilities, but I'd bet few of them any less problematic than the one I mention.   If however this is all the result of being in an unexpected coma or held by kidnappers for 90 days or more, I do apologize.

27 minutes ago, rickudon said:

Rarely been given a receipt for any of my dealings with immigration over the last 4 years, apart for a couple of extensions (usually not). Have got about 4 re-entries in the last 2 years and have never been given a receipt for those ......

Whereas I've ALWAYS received a receipt, and over much more than 4 years..  Even when dealing with consulates by mail.  Strange.

18 hours ago, steve187 said:

from memory, i have never been given a receipt for any visa issued at the Hull consulate in the UK.

Interesting.  I've NEVER had any dealings with Thai Immigration OR any of the consulates, anywhere, in Thailand or out, where a fee was paid and I didn't get a receipt, even when it was something done by mail.  Just because, I hang on to the receipts and tuck them in to the last page of the passport, but if I had ever failed to get a receipt, I can't say I'd have tried to do anything about it.

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

I don't think that's true, My wife's friend's Husband  own a Thai food restaurant and he brings cooks from Thailand all the time, I have met many of them and I dont think they are graduates of any chef school.

That was a few years ago, not sure if the requirements have changed lately, but I don't think so.,

If she has an employer that will sponsor her , and an agent that can walk her through the process I  don't think she will have a problem.

I have no idea how more or less difficult it is for Thais as apart from everyone else to be brought over, but there is certainly NO shortage of Thai restaurants staffed by Thais, particularly on the west coast, and that's been true for years and years.  Everything from lunchroom-type Thai buffets to high-end Thai cuisine.  And even the employees bussing tables are Thai (which is remarkable, as most other restaurants use Mexicans(etc.) for nearly all their service staff).  Most of the Thai restaurants I've visited seem to do quite well.

15 hours ago, Krimse123 said:

Thank you so much for your responses. It really puts my mind at ease.

I'm staying for up to 8 months. This time I'll be going for a tourist visa. Maybe next time I'll join a language course and get an education visa for the remaining 5-6 months.

 

 

Your tourist visa will be good for 60 days, plus you can then get a 30d extension on it.  Your initial visa-exempt entry is good for 30 days, and can ALSO be extended by 30 days.  So that's five months.   Since that's your entire history for Thailand, I wouldn't think you'd have any trouble at all hopping up to Vientiane for a 2nd single-entry tourist visa, which (along with the extension) would give you another 3 months.  If you want to stay longer than that, the education visa might be a good option, providing it's legitimate, but I think you could probably get a 3rd tourist visa from Vientiane without them squawking.

Consider this "fine print", but you need to understand that obtaining the visa is one thing; going through Immigration is another.   It wouldn't be too surprising if going through Immigration with a 3rd tourist visa, and your first two visas and initial v-e entry all being back-to-back, you didn't at least get a couple of questions asked by an IO who got it into his head that you might be trying to live or work in Thailand on tourist visas.  But that being the sum total of your immigration history, I think the odds of a problem would be very slim. 

Before you left home you might've considered getting a multi-entry tourist visa which would've carried you for up to nine months (incl an extension at the end).  But they can usually only be obtained in your home country that I know of.

11 hours ago, mikecha said:

Question why is his Dutch pension less if he marries a thai woman

Answer:  read the thread.  It's only 2 pages, and the answer to this has already been posted.

1 hour ago, steve187 said:

the problem with a  visa exempt entry on a 40 day stay is that the airline may want to see a visa prior to boarding.

 

do it safer get a single entry tourist visa from a nearby consulate in person (£25 +£10 admin fee) Hull , liverpool etc, or by post from London Embassy.

 

 

By way of explanation in case you're not familiar, many airlines will want to see EITHER onward ticketing that will show him leaving Thailand within the 30days that a visa-exempt entry would enable, OR a (tourist) visa.  If he doesn't have either one, the airline may well refuse to let him board.   Theoretically, the need for onward ticketing applies on entry at Immigration in Thailand as well, but typically it's the airlines who check for that, and not Immigration.  So just a heads-up.