dia1

I have a double entry tourist Visa from the US

an ED Visa From Vientienne

and now I'm currently on a double entry tourist visa from Vientienne...

I plan on getting a Thai Elite Visa soon, but I would prefer to do that sometime later in the year. WIll I have problems getting another double entry tourist Visa if I go back to Vientienne? Should I go somewhere else like Cambodia or try the Savannaket Consulate?

Also, want to note that I have never done the 30 day extension on a tourist Visa. Is there any reason why they would deny someone this extension, and if you do the extension will it effect your ability to get another Visa immediately when it expires?

I might be overthinking this, but just want ot be prepared fo rhte worst..

Is this proposal dead now? Chinese New Year is less than 2 weeks away and I can't find any further news...

Highly illegal in Laos.

Am I understanding that it is an "unlimited" entry visa? As in it is good for 5 years, and I could leave thailand 20 times first first year with no problem, and it would have no effect on my remaining 4 years?

Is it possible to get the Elite visa if you are currently in Thailand on a tourist visa? Like... Is there any requirement for you to be in your home country during the application and approval process? Am I correct in thinking that you could apply and onnce approved you could just do a fly out/into the country to pick up your visa and get a stamp?

It is possible to get the Visa if you are currently in Thailand on another visa (as long as you have enough time left on it, obviously). As a matter of fact you don't even need to fly out of the country. You only need to go to Chaeng Wattana Immigration Office, where they will change the visa for you. There, one of the Thailand Elite staff will do it for you. I just handed him my passport and he was back in 20 mins with the new PE visa.

Wow... That is epic!

Any reports of someone getting denied Thailand elite for any reason?

Is it possible to get the Elite visa if you are currently in Thailand on a tourist visa? Like... Is there any requirement for you to be in your home country during the application and approval process? Am I correct in thinking that you could apply and onnce approved you could just do a fly out/into the country to pick up your visa and get a stamp?

Now, my only question is- Is there any issues with getting back to back double entry visas in Vientienne? I know things are always changing, but is this a problem? I have one double entry visa from a year and a half ago that was issued in the US, a couple of older "on arrival" visas and 1 ED visa in my passport. How many visas can I get before I start getting problems and they don't want to give me any more?

There is no issue, as you never obtained on there. You can also use Savannakhet Laos where the double entry visa is issued the same day.

I obtained my ED visa there. Will they deny me a multi-entry tourist Visa if I request one now that my ED visa is ending?

Come to Thailand and get your upon arrival visa. Extend it for 30 days. = 60 days

Leave the country and apply for tourist visa. You'll be outside the country 1-2 days. Extend the visa for an additinal 30 days.

That gives you 5 months. If you want more you'll have to leave the country again.

Are there any issues with getting back-to-back tourist visas?

I am winding down on my ED visa, and I was REALLY looking forward to studying a 2nd year of Thai, but with the new changes I am reading about, I don't want anything to do with it. 2 hours per day for 4 days per week? That's an insane amount of work for one single subject nonstop without breaks. And when you add in the commute time back and forth from your school and additional tuition cost, it's just unreasonable.

Instead I would prefer to just hire a private tutor and stay here on a tourist visa. I'm thinkin about going to Vientianne and trying for a double entry and doing 2 30 days extensions to get a total of 6 months stay. This is a way better option for me, and I can study at a normal pace.

Now, my only question is- Is there any issues with getting back to back double entry visas in Vientienne? I know things are always changing, but is this a problem? I have one double entry visa from a year and a half ago that was issued in the US, a couple of older "on arrival" visas and 1 ED visa in my passport. How many visas can I get before I start getting problems and they don't want to give me any more?

The new ED rules are terrible. The only thing that they should have required was for the school to provide original handwritten/signed attendance sheets and a 80-90% attendance record, so the people who were not attending class and abusing the system would not be allowed to stay. Those of us who went to class every day and studied are getting screwed.

Generally Lao double entry tourist have 3 months validity from date of issue.

It is wise under current mess to cover your arse & have an onward flight schedule/receipt as easy for most us to do this at no cost other than bit of time to set up.

Buckabee,

May I ask how you are going about getting an onward flight schedule/receipt without any cost?

The school does not issue your visit. The ministry does not issue the visa.

You pay your school for the tuition and for helping you with the paperwork to get you the ED visa. The 26000 is your schools fee. You must take the paperwork and you passport to the Embassy and they will put the Visa sticker in your passport and you must pay then for this. Not sure why it is 200 pounds though. When I got mine it seemed a lot cheaper.

So for some reason I thought my visa passport was stamped to end on January 28th, but I just looked and it actually is stamped on the 26th.

My plan is to fly to Udon Thani tonight, the 26th and was planning on staying in Udon overnight and cross the Laos land border 6:30am in the morning on the 27th, which seams like a 6 1/2 hour overstay.

I've read some posts on here stating that for a 1 day overstay you will get a 500 baht fine and an "Overstay" stamp in your passport, but no one has really clarified what a 1-day overstay is. My passport reads "Admitted until January 26th" which I assume means once January 27th rolls a you're officially on a 1 day overstay. But that the usage of "until" could actually mean that you should leave on the 25th which means 2 day overstay.

I suppose I wouldn't care about getting an overstay stamp and paying a 500-1000 baht fine, but I am doing a border run specifically to submit my school paperwork and receive and education visa. Will this overstay stamp effect my ability to get an ED visa? If so I will skip staying in Udon for the night and try to cross the border late in the evening which will kind of suck.

Can't believe I didn't notice this til the last moment!

Hi All,

I'm currently in the Thailand and am about to start studying at a Thai language school in BKK. This is not a university, but an independent language school. The paperwork from the MOE has came back and now I just need to determine which country to visit to obtain my ED visa.

My original plan was to visit Kuala Lampur, Malaysia but I can't find any recent reports of success of obtaining ED Visa... To the contrary the most recent I've read about have been refusals!

It seems like everyone recommends going to Laos, but to be honest Laos sounds boring and I'd like to spend a couple day being a tourist if I'm going to travel to a new country. I wouldn't mind visiting Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Mynamar, but I'm having trouble finding recent success stories for those areas.

Is Laos now the only viable spot to get the ED Visa now? It's the only spot I'm seeing success stories from in the last 6 months. If it really is I'll go there, but I won't be too excited! Haha

I just finished my application to a Thai language school here in the LOS and filled out the required forms for the Ministry of Education too get approval and ED Visa.

There seemed to be very few questions that the school cared for me to fill out other than my address, religion, mother's maiden name, father's maiden name, education certificate... etc.

My question is- has anyone ever not gotten a letter of approval or a letter of denial from the MOE? Is there any reason why you would not be allowed in the school?

I am not so concerned about getting the Visa once I get the letter of approval, and I know sometimes people get denied at the Embassy, but the letter of approval from the MOE worries me. I am not religious, I only have a High School Education, and I do not know my father's details or occupation. Are any of these reason why I would get a denial letter? It seems that these are the details that are being scrutinized, so ...

Has anyone heard of this company or something like it?

I can't comment on the website you linked but know there are organisations/websites offering similar visas for the US.

A daughter of my wifes colleague is currently in Arkansas attending college.

She organised it all herself through one of these websites. Families in the US act as host families and sponsor their stay. She headed over for the start of the 2013 school year and apart from a couple of weeks homesick has really settled in well and it enjoying her time. I think her mother mentioned she contributes 120k Baht per year.

I was wary when I first heard about it but for her its worked out well. I would advise lots of caution.

Thanks for the feedback so far. Farma, do you happen to have the name of the company that your wife's colleague's daughter is using? Maybe if I can show her what a reputable company looks like she will understand why I'm worried.

I recently met a friend here in Thailand who told me that she will be going to the American Embassy to get a Visa to America. Naturally, as an American I was intrigued on how she was planning on getting into America. She told me that she will be going through an "Agency" and they are handling everything for her, job, housing, etc.

I had never heard of a young thai girl getting into America via some agency, so this through up some red flags for me. I thought it was a lot harder to get into America than just signing up to some Agency.

She sent me a link to the agency's site:

http://american-learning.com/

Everything about this site threw up red flags for me.

a.) I cannot find any mention of the agency on American websites, althought they list affiliation with several well known companies.

b.) Several pages are "under construction" including the "About us" page...

c.) The youtube video is for another company

d.) The video is registered to a Thai person in Chatuchak rather than an American who would have access to these companies in the US.

So is this a scam? Has anyone heard of this company or something like it? She is totally not worried and thinks everything is legitamte simply because they have a website domain (how naive). She told me that she is paying over 100,000 baht for this whole thing, but I am especially worried that she may be traffiked or something given that she is a pretty young girl who predators like to target. Maybe she will lose all of her money, but I want to prevent her from doing something that will ruin her life.

Thoughts?

Scam or no scam?

So today I agreed to rent a new condo in Asoke for a year and gave a "booking" amount to make sure the apartment is held for me for a couple days. The agent is drawing up a contract for me now and I will be moving in a few days.

I hope this isn't too much rehash of already discussed topics, but there are a couple things that are crossing my mind now that I'm trying to figure out.

1. The internet provider the agent showed me for the building is ToT, but claims to be 10mbs... My #1 priority is having good solid internet as soon as possible. I have read horrible reviews of ToT which kind of scared me, but 10mbs is pretty fast. I don't mind giving them a try, but does anyone know how long it usually takes for ToT to come and establish the connection? I can't be without internet for too long. Also the contract appears to have no English... all Thai. Is this typical? When I got my phone DTAC seemed to offer "WiFi" in their pamphlet. Are they a viable alternative?

2. The cable provider is True, but I really don't care for cable as I watch very little TV. My friend said that I should be able to watch about 7 channels without cable, but how does that work here in Thailand? Do I need to buy an antenna or do I just connect it to the cable line?

3. The apartment is furnished with a bed and couch, but is not decorated, and has no TV in the bedroom, so I will have to get that myself and all the rest of the decorations... An unexpected cost that I don't mind, but I am not sure what I would do with the stuff after I move. Craigslist? This might sound like a dumb question, but will a taxi driver care if I load/unload a TV in his trunk if I buy one from somewhere or should I just plan to by new and arrange delivery?

4. Due to the language barrier I had some difficulty understanding my Thai agent. It seems she said I would be paying my rent directly at A BANK, electricity/water at a Juristrictor office and Cable/Internet at 711.... Did I understand that correctly? After the 3rd time asking for clarification I kind of got tired and decided I would figure it out when I sign the contract.

5. Is Thailand like America in that when your lease ends you typically go "Month-To-Month" or will the require another lease? I will be staying a year and a few months, so a month to month after the lease would be ideal. If it's not typical I will request.

Thanks for the help... I am obviously a little nervous as this is my first rental in Thailand. I appreciate all the advice here from experienced expats Kop kun krap

Had a <deleted> moment when my agent showed up and was a young hottie and asked if I had a GF

On most of the Thai language school sites, they ask for many "passport" photos. Some schools ask for 6, some ask for 10, and one even asks for 12. Does anyone know why they want so many photos when the embassy only requires you to bring two? What do they do with all of these photos?

Also, is it standard for all of these "passport" photos to be duplicates of eachother? Just 12 copies of one photos or should you have 12 different pictures?

Some of this Visa stuff seems so ridiculous haha

Just so you know, you can apply in US for tourist multiple entry, this gives 3-6 months valid visa,

so you got plenty of time finding a school here on spot,

or simply get a new tourist visa when you go to thai embassy at any of the countries you name.

How it works is that you get to stay 60 days, then go to immigration and get another 30 days.

After that, you take a mini-van tour to the border, and start on the next tourist visa, 60+30

Holy S***

Poanoi! I want to thank you, because as much as I have read about Visas this for some reason just blanked out of my mind. This actually sounds like a great idea as I plan to travel a bit while I am living in Thailand (weekend visits to Japan, Hong Kong to take pictures and such), and from what I read on an ED Visa I will need to apply at immigration for re-etry permits and such which sounds like a pain. This saves me at least 1 trip back to immigration to apply for a permit, saves me a little stress of finding a school I like within the first few days of arriving, and will get me a bit more time to enjoy Thai living if I apply for my ED visa before my multiple entry tourist visa expires. This is what my plan now looks like.

1. Go to Thai Embassy in Los Angeles and apply for multiple-entry tourist Visa.

2. Stay for 60 days

3. Apply at immigration for 30 day extension.

4. Before 30 days expire Fly to Japan or HK for a weekend to take pictures and do touristy things.

5. Re-enter Thailand to get the second 60 days on my multi-entry visa.

6. Apply at Immigration for a 30 day extension.

7. Sometime within the previous 30-90 days get accepted into Thai School and get ministry approval for ED Visa.

8. Leave for Laos, Malaysia, Singapore or another Visa Friendly Country to obtain the ED visa and do touristy things.

9. Return to Thailand, begin school, and visit immigration every 90 days to keep my 1 year ED Visa running.

10. Apply for re-entry permit any time I want to travel after this.

This seems like the most stress free way for me to get my ED visa for school, do some weekend traveling, and also extend my possible time in Thailand to up to 1 year and 6 months. Correct me if I've messed up somewhere.

I do have a couple fears with this method though.

a.) I'm worried that I will not be able to get a bank account on a tourist visa vis when I first arrive. There seems to be conflicting views on whether this is still possible in BKK.

b.) I'm worried I will not be able to rent an apartment/lease a condo for a year with a tourist Visa. Again conflicting info some say they have in the past, others say no... :|

This thread has really helped me a lot!

jrtmedic- Yes, my first language is English. Sorry that my first post in this thread was full of errors. I wrote it when I was totally exhausted last night and didn't double check what I wrote. Re-reading it today I think it was confusing! Haha

ubonjoe- Thanks for the tips!

Do you think I would be able to lease and apartment for a year on my tourist visa while I'm waiting for my education visa stuff to go through. The main reason I wonder if the Thia Ministry sends the information to the school rather than directly to me is that I will be staying in a hotel when I first arrive in BKK while looking for Apartments. I'm not sure having important documents mailed to a hotel is the best idea? Trying to align the renting of an apartment up with the ED visa sounds like it might be tricky if they want to mail the documents to me.

Anyone had their ED visa stuff mailed to them before? Also, what are the chances I would be denied a ED visa for some unknown reason? I would hate to sign a lease on a tourist visa then get decline and lose my Tuition fees.

You can rent a place to stay on a tourist visa. You will not need to sign a years lease most are done on monthly basis.

School will take paperwork to ministry pick it up and hand it to to you. Nothing is done by mail.

As long as school does its part right you will have no problem getting visa and then extensions. So don't worry about that.

Thanks ubonjoe,

Quick question. You say that most apartments have a monthly agreement rather than yearly leases? Can someone englighten me on to where I can view these type of apartments online? I have browsed atleast 10-20 sites, and almost all of the apartment rentals in BKK I've seen say in the terms 1yr+ lease.

Is there a secret online resource of Apartments that I don't know about, or do I need to track down a real estate agent when I am there to see these?

jrtmedic- Yes, my first language is English. Sorry that my first post in this thread was full of errors. I wrote it when I was totally exhausted last night and didn't double check what I wrote. Re-reading it today I think it was confusing! Haha

ubonjoe- Thanks for the tips!

Do you think I would be able to lease and apartment for a year on my tourist visa while I'm waiting for my education visa stuff to go through. The main reason I wonder if the Thia Ministry sends the information to the school rather than directly to me is that I will be staying in a hotel when I first arrive in BKK while looking for Apartments. I'm not sure having important documents mailed to a hotel is the best idea? Trying to align the renting of an apartment up with the ED visa sounds like it might be tricky if they want to mail the documents to me.

Anyone had their ED visa stuff mailed to them before? Also, what are the chances I would be denied a ED visa for some unknown reason? I would hate to sign a lease on a tourist visa then get decline and lose my Tuition fees.

Moving to Thailand to study thai for a year.

So my question is this. I live in American a I need to put a one month notice in at my apartment. So as soon as I do that I have 30 days to leave... I also need to spend this time to sell my car (hopefully in the last week- so I'm stuck with my car), and put my belogins in storage. If I apply for a language school in Thai I must pay in advance, wait for the paperwork from the school and take it to the US Thai Embassy here before I can leave. With the time of getting accepted to the shcool and the unknown time it will take to get my via back from the Embassy, it seems like it will be difficult to get all the points to align at once and allow me to leave for Bkk right away.

The other option that seems more logical would be to just handle everything I need to now with my car, apartment, and stuff before going to BKK, and fly to BKK on a tourist Visa. Once I get there, visit a few schools and then apply in person, get acceptance letter, and fly to Singapore thai embassy to get multi entry visa. This doesn't require to me juggle so many things at once on a target move date.

1. Which options is better? THe logic option which requires great timing.

2. The more relaxed entry on a tourist via which requires extra travel.

4. Alo, during my stufy for a year I would like to take weekend trips to Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, China. Since I plan on making 4 trips during the year is it better for me to get a Single entry visa a re-entry permit, or get a multiple entry visa? This is a diffuclt concept to understand. Are there any benefits or disadvantages to either?

5. Last thing is if I apply in thailand where is the visa/letter from the ministry mailed? Do they mail it back to school or do I have to give them an address in thai?

Sorry I read a bit about these topics but didn't get a firm answers.

THanks!

NOT opening your own Thai bank account is stupid, as it is simple and you CAN do on an education Visa. Scb and Kasikorn will be two options and while you might have to go to different offices to find one that let's you do it, it is still the best and only option to avoid the ATM fees.

Sent from my HTC One XL using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Thanks Swiss... I think that is what I needed to hear, and I have been searching the forums about opening a Thai bank account since my last post, and it seems pretty straightforward with a standard ACH transfer just like here in the US. I will open a Thai bank account.

Private entrace as in you walk up to your door from the outside, rather than passing a front desk and going up and elevator. The reason I ask is the two times I have brought friends back to my hotel the front desk wanted their ID to hold... I can understand this as the hotel I was at I saw many guys bringing what appeared to be random ladies back to their room. Unfortunately, one of my thai friends (strickly plutonic friend whom I have been friends with over a year) was very embarrassed/confused as to why she was asked for her ID. I think she felt like she was being treated like a hooker, when we had no plans of doing anything naughty... She is from BKK, but had never been to the Farang part of town. (or so she says)

I can't tell you what the "bad" area was as I just followed my friends to wherever they had took me. That was probably a poor choice of words. I would say a more "rough" part of town where there were no fancy hotels/condos and I was the only foreigner in sight. Things were kind of run down and it appeared that many buildings had been demolished and the rubble was just kind of still sitting there.

Hmmm I will definately keep looking to see if I can find a nice place for less than my max. I am still pretty dead set on being as close to the BTS as possible, and hopefully close to Asoke as my school is in that area and I know the area as well. The apartment hunting sites on the web for BKK aren't that great to say the least. I'm sure I'm going to make some mistakes on this journey.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will probably do what the previous poster suggested and just withdraw the maximum each time I go to the ATM for spending money. That is still a lot of foreign transaction fees to eat though. I wish there were more alternatives.

I guess the main reason I would not open a Thai bank account is because it seems unecessary. I'm not even sure if you can open a bank account when you only have a studen visa. I will consider it as an option if transfering between a US and Thai bank is easy and I can avoid the massive foreign transaction fees.

Thanks everyone!

I didn't see anyone mention anything about the community entrances at apartments? Is pretty much every apartment building setup that way or are there some that have private entrances?

Also, in response to a previous poster I have been to BKK a couple times and felt relatively safe even when I went to the bad areas, and the non farang areas with my Thai friends. I am not afraid of my shadow haha. I know there are crazy things that happen there, but I just think it would be a wise move to pay a little more to live closer to the main street than down a longer dark soi. I've been saving up to make sure I can afford whatever is thrown at me, and paying an extra $500 a month is better than paying a $500 bribe to some thugs trying to bully me because I'm farang. To be honest I was surprised when I got stopped by the police when I was doing nothing, but I know for a fact that they did it because I was walking down an unlit street where I was the only person in view in the middle of the night- My bad.

I appreciate everyones help. Pretty stoked about living in the LOS for a while