Bruce404

The fifth floor of the new Sriphat Clinic building (affiliated with the Chiang Mai University Faculty of Medicine) has a clinic that stocks and administers quite a few vaccines.

This new building is on the south side of Suthep Road, down the road and across the street from the main CMU hospital buildings and their adjacent, original Sriphat Clinic building.  A free shuttle service is available to this Sriphat Clinic "annex" from just outside the main hospital emergency room. 

The new building's parking lot (entrance on its soi) is directly opposite from the Suan Dok 10-story parking building (with its McDonalds restaurant and Siam Commercial Bank on the ground floor).  The building is visible from Suthep Road, set back about 200 meters from Suthep Road.

A 2-page listing of vaccines and their prices available in 2014 is attached in the two .jpg images.  Note that only the vaccines in yellow highlight were in stock at that time.  The clinic crossed out those vaccines not routinely stocked at that time (but perhaps available on special order with advance payment), and courteously wrote out more recognizable names for the abbreviations.

A routine recent visit for work-permit medical exam incurred a doctor/clinic charge of about ฿aht 200, if my memory serves me (receipt not handy, but certainly much less than ฿ 300).  My guess would be that a charge for vaccinations would be similar, plus the current cost of the vaccines.

PS.  Six years later, I would also guess they would have the newer Japanese encephalitis vaccine (Ixiaro®) produced by modern cell culture technique by Valneva AG in Austria (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/rr/rr6802a1.htm), but probably pricier than the two other JE vaccines in stock in 2014 (which work well, and are still fine to use, but no longer available in the USA).

To be super cautious, never give more than a minute or two of custody (e.g., upon checking into a hotel) of your passport to an "agent", hotel employee, motorbike rental shop, or other person asking for it as collateral without first demanding to photograph close-up both sides of the person's Thai National Identity card, his or her face, and their mobile telephone number (test the number that it rings in your presence).  Maybe even obtain also a handwritten receipt for taking custody of your passport, and a photo of its main page while held up alongside the custodian's face.

This way, the police can more easily find the person if the passport is somehow "lost" and not returned promptly when promised.

Also, it's a good idea always to have a photograph (on paper or in one's phone, or better both) of all relevant pages of one's passport, including one's current entry stamps and the TM.6 form stapled into it by Immigration upon your arrival.

Somewhere at least 50 meters above predicted sea level in 2100 (BE 2643), along a "bullet" high-speed train stop between Bangkok (truly becoming "Venice of the East") and Nakorn Ratchasima (on the route towards Khon Kaen, Nong Khai, Laos, and China).

For example, Google Earth indicates that this spot along Highway 2 towards Korat, 15 km northeast of Saraburi, is at 50 meters elevation: https://goo.gl/maps/NHBSW3fzJUF62SZY7

 (14.605309 North latitude, 101.061241 East longitude).  

Saraburi city itself is in one of the new predicted danger-zone models  (CoastalDEM) for being below sea level in the year 2100.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12808-z/figures/1 

Most of the non-mountainous areas of Nakhon Nayok will be under water.

On 11/11/2019 at 1:39 PM, holy cow cm said:

Even last night the planes were taking off and using a different flight exit plan. Big deal It is Loy Kratong. Banning lanterns up here is like saying we should be able to buy and drink alcohol at bars during different buddha holidays here. 

Wrong.  Landed at CNX from BKK last night (11 November) around 18:00.  It was the last incoming flight for the night.  While taxiing in, the last two departures of the night were taxiing to take off.  Was told by airport staff the airport would officially close at 19:00, but no more flights in or out were expected.  Large numbers of planes from multiple airlines parked on the tarmac awaiting takeoff Tuesday morning, presumably.

PS.  Lanterns can land while still burning.  If onto a wooden or thatched rooftop or other flammable structure, fires can start.  Maybe each lantern should carry a metal license tag, so those who send them up can pay any damages caused when they land.  Or just charge 5 or 10 Baht to buy the tags, with the funds used to pay for the damages, or to a worthy cause otherwise.

SOME TIPS ON USING THE Thai Immigration's eServices Android app for 90-day reporting (equivalent to the classic TM.47 reporting form)

After much trial and error (not quite as tedious as monkeys randomly typing to write Shakespearean prose), I was just successful in using the Thai Immigration "eServices" app on an Android phone to do a 90-day report. 

Unlike the Android app for foreigners to report themselves upon newly arriving at their permanent or temporary lodging ("section38" as an alternative to TM.30 form, in lieu of the owner or householder refusing or unable to do so for the foreigner), this "eServices" app is available for it seems any Google Play account associated with any specific country. 

On Google Play, the logo of this eServices (90-day reporting) app looks like the 1^st image attached to this post.  

(The "section38" app for TM.30 reports, I recently have confirmed, is only visible and downloadable for Google Play accounts that are registered to the "country/region" of Thailand.  To see what country one's Google Play account is registered to, while logged into one's Google account in a browser, go to https://pay.google.com/payments/u/0/home#settings and look for the item "country/region".  Caution, if changing one's sole Google Play account to a different country, there is a one-year minimum interval before one can again change the country. 

Fortunately, however, I have learned that it is possible, even on a single Android smartphone, to have two separate Google accounts and their associated Google Play accounts -- one linked to one's home country and the other to Thailand.  The latter will allow one to download the section38 app and do one's own householder (TM.30) reporting, when a landlord, condominium juristic association, or another host for one's lodging is unable or unwilling to do so.)  

Here are some tips I learned after a number of failures that kept bringing the eServices "90-day reporting" app back to its opening page.

1.  On the app's opening or login page (2^nd image attached), beware if one's phone loads one's email address from its cache into the field, rather than typing it oneself.  In my case, the cache had a space after the ".com ", which the app did not recognize.  My original registration of the app lacked any such space.  Instead of typing the email address character by character, one can simply backspace to remove any spurious space. 

Upon removing the space, the app proceeded to the next screen (3^rd image attached) for which the upper box is the one to click to begin entering the required information.

2. The app is not very precise in its immigration terminology when its drop-down menu asks for the type of visa one has ("Tourist" or "Non-IMM") and the dates of its issuance and expiration.  A "visa", technically, is a stamp in one's passport issued at an overseas embassy or consulate permitting entry into a country, of which various types may routinely be associated with their own specific duration of permitted stay.  

A visa is NOT the same thing as an extension of one's permission to stay in a country beyond that initial routine period.  Many persons on ThaiVisa use the term "visa" loosely and imprecisely, just as the app currently does.  An extension of stay issued while in Thailand should not be called a "visa".  It is an entirely different immigration process.

In my case, my most recent "visa" was formally issued outside of Thailand several years ago, after which my presence has been authorized by several extensions of permission to stay.   Re-entries after use of that visa were by "Re-entry permits" issued in Thailand at an Immigration Office or an Immigration Office counter just after passing security into an international departure lounge".  A re-entry permit (single-entry or multiple-entry) is NOT a visa. 

(I have never relied on such an airport counter, just in case it is un-staffed by an officer taking a break or out sick.  Getting a new visa outside Thailand and getting a new extension of stay would be required if one leaves during a valid extension of stay period without such a re-entry permit.  Too much risk to take.)  

So when I initially kept entering the dates years ago when my last visa was issued and expired, the app kept rejecting the entry, bouncing me back to the app's opening page.  What the app should be asking is:  "Date of issuance and date of expiration of permission to stay in Thailand authorized upon entry using your most recent visa, OR DATES OF ISSUANCE OF YOUR CURRENT EXTENSION OF STAY AND ITS EXPIRATION."  

(Another ambiguity in the app's language is that single-entry or multiple-entry visas have an expiration date after which they cannot be used to enter a country.  I can only guess that the app wants to know the current date when one's permission to stay in Thailand expires, and NOT the expiration date after which that visa could not be used to ENTER Thailand.) 

When I finally ignored the app's question about my "visa" and entered the dates when my current extension of stay was issued and its expiration date, the app sent me on to the confirmation page. 

The dates I entered were stamped in my passport in purple ink and red ink (for the expiration date) within 12 lines of purple ink (the first two of which read "CHIANGMAI IMMIGRATION OFFICE / EXTENSION OF STAY PERMITTED UP TO ____________ ").  

So if one's official, most-recent visa used to enter Thailand has been superseded by subsequent extension(s) of stay obtained at an Immigration Office in Thailand, the dates of the latest are the ones to insert into the app when it asks for your "visa".

Despite this bit of difficulty with the app not ignoring trailing spaces after one's email address, and not asking for the dates of either one's visa issuance overseas (or date of arrival if one is permitted a "visa exempt" entry) and expiration of one's current permission to stay, the app is a real service to avoid making a trip to an Immigration Office.  Hopefully, others will find these tips useful.

On 10/6/2019 at 3:02 PM, Bruce404 said:

    I think Isaan Sailor makes a valid point: that appreciation of the Baht results from intentional human intervention by the central bank, implying it is not a result postulated by others on this forum to be a consequence of natural ups and downs of global markets, political events, trade wars, and other causes.  (Although I do not agree with all the reasons he suggests are motivating the policy.)

 

    I am no economist, although I read the magazine regularly, including its essays on global finance and currencies. With that disclaimer, it seems to me the slow but steady increase in value of the Baht in relation to other currencies (e.g., US$, Euro €, and Pound Sterling £) over many, many months must result from national policy set at the highest levels, for reasons that remain inscrutable.

 

    The appreciating Baht certainly hurts several major sectors of the Thai economy:   Manufacturing and agricultural exports become dearer in foreign markets.  The higher prices foreign tourists must pay to visit here make other countries more competitive to attract their holidays.  Imports become less costly, diverting sales by domestic manufacturers that serve primarily the domestic market.

 

    In theory, the only winners are those who earn income outside these sectors, or have accumulated assets they want to be worth more when moved overseas.

 

     Another explanation for the policy might be fear of being accused of currency manipulation by Trump, and thus put on his *hit list, as he has China.  But actual currency manipulators usually try to keep their currency undervalued in order to promote their own export industries, not overvalued as is happening in Thailand.  

 

     Certainly among the readership of ThaiVisa there must be accomplished PhD economists with expertise in the domains of international finance, exchange rates, central banking and monetary policy.  Hopefully, some of them will weigh in, anonymously, to educate us on why they think this is happening. (We need a Thai Paul Krugman.)

 

    I must retract, with apologies, some uninformed opinions posted on this thread on Sunday, 6 October, at 15:02 ICT.

    Then, I cast aspersions on the central bank that the slow but steady rise in the Baht relative to other currencies was the effect of its intentional monetary policy, rather than a consequence of market forces and secular trends.

    Now, as stated by a few knowledgeable others on this thread (and ignoring the ignoramuses), I am convinced that it is indeed market forces driving the Baht’s appreciation, by the demand by investors, speculators, those seeking safer havens for their assets, whoever, to buy the Baht in exchange for whatever currency they have. 

    As the trends in recent months have shown, those investors would now have made some profit upon converting their Baht to another currency which has lost value relative to the Baht (US Dollars, Euros, Pound Sterling) during the period.

    If anything, the Bank of Thailand has probably been doing as best it can to keep the Baht from appreciating even faster than it has, by applying whatever methods it has in its monetary toolkit.

    A brief explanation of this is in this Bloomberg news blurb of a World Bank economist commenting on the Baht:

Bank of Thailand Has Limited Scope to Curb Baht, World Bank Says (Bloomberg)

by Siraphob Thanthong-Knight

The Bank of Thailand has limited scope to tackle baht strength but the currency’s climb is a sign of investor confidence in the country’s economic fundamentals, according to the World Bank.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-08/bank-of-thailand-has-limited-scope-to-curb-baht-world-bank-says

54 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Just to set the record straight, I did not say that Medicare will cover your everyday medical needs or non-emergency care while outside of the United States.

 

However, Medicare WILL in fact provide coverage overseas for emergency and urgent care (i.e.: a life threatening illness or accident requiring immediate medical attention).  That is a fact that you can corroborate by contacting Medicare or your private supplemental provider.

 

 

 

 

 

     WaveHunter, you are referring to an optional, supplemental policy that one purchases out-of-pocket "on top of Medicare".  It is not "Medicare coverage".

     And if you read the fine print in the third answer to the third question in the larger image you posted (not quoted above), it says your supplemental policy does not apply if you move outside the private (Florida) insurer's geographic coverage areas. 

     I doubt any of those areas include Thailand, although perhaps you are not informing your private insurer in Florida that you actually live long-term or lengthy periods in Thailand, and are not just taking short vacations outside the USA.

     Do you have any experience filing a claim for emergency care in Thailand with your private "BlueMedicare HMO" insurer in Florida?  If so, please tell us about it. 

     You might want to read the fine print and contact your supplemental insurer to learn its definition of "temporarily outside the plan service area":

"If you receive care from an out-of-network provider without prior authorization from our plan, the care will not be covered except for emergency care, urgently needed care and dialysis services you receive while temporarily outside the plan service area."

https://medicare.websales.floridablue.com/sbu/medadv-detail/bluemedicare-hmo-mytime-4?language_content_entity=en

2 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

[ ... content truncated ... ]

In cases of life-threatening conditions, USA Medicare will often cover treatment costs within Thailand, without the need to even return home.  These new Thai regulations don't seem to take this factor into account.

[ ... content truncated ... ]

WaveHunter is misinformed on the above factoid regarding Medicare coverage outside the USA or its territorial waters or in Canada between Alaska and Washington State.  See: https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/travel 

Retirees from many countries already have enough healthcare insurance coverage, either from their own sufficient assets to pay their medical bills, or by entitlements from prior employment.  For example, retirees from the U.S. Department of State and U.S. military and Uniformed Services retirees have lifetime healthcare coverage that reimburses no matter where in the world they reside.

I agree with Thailand trying to avoid retirees failing to pay for medical care humanely rendered to them in the country.  But a more efficient way to achieve this would be for medical providers and hospitals to obtain upon care the patient's passport number and TM.6 number.  If legitimate medical bills remain unpaid beyond a certain time, providers can submit copies of the bills to Immigration, attest to their non-payment by the patient or his/her insurer, and Immigration can put a hold on renewal of the retiree's permission to stay until paid up, or the bill disputed and fairly arbitrated with due process to all parties.

I sympathize with many over-50 expatriate retirees whose pensions or assets may not be able to cover their healthcare costs, likely rising astronomically as they age.  But it would be unfair for Thailand's private physicians and hospitals to be subsidizing them.

Another option, perhaps far-fetched, would be for Thailand to allow those on non-immigrant, long-term retirement visas to buy into a version of the so-called "30-baht" universal national healthcare system (NHSO*) for care ONLY at public hospitals and clinics, at a price to be determined and with reasonable co-pays at the time of service, but likely to cost much less than Thai insurers charge for providing coverage for private medical-care providers.  

* https://www.nhso.go.th/eng/FrontEnd/index.aspx 

49 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

A low inflation rate makes prices go up,and the inflation rate so far 2019:

 

"Thailand's annual inflation rate fell to 0.32 percent in September 2019 from 0.52 percent in August and below market expectations of 0.44 percent."

    I do not understand Max69sl's statement that "A low inflation rate makes prices go up ... ."  Thai seems to be an inverse tautology or contradiction in terms:  the rate is calculated by what happens with prices, they are inextricably linked in one direction only.  Not the other way around.

    Perhaps Max69xl really means "low interest rates" (set by monetary authorities) when he writes "low inflation rate". 

    Inflation is measured by the rate of change in the prices of goods over time. If prices rise fast, that is a high inflation rate.  If slowly, that is a low inflation rate.

     If prices remain the same over an interval of time, it is zero inflation, which frightens to death central banks, economists, and elected politicians.  If prices soon start to fall, it becomes "negative" inflation, a.k.a. deflation. 

     When the price of something next week or next month will be lower than now (i.e., deflation), consumers and companies will stop buying and wait for the lower price.  That sends economic activity into a tailspin and recession or even depression usually results. 

2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

I suggest you read what I wrote and said how I have downloaded the section 38 App.  In particular read my PS to my post No 44 and stop making life difficult for yourself and others!
I have now installed and uninstalled 38 on two differnt phones of my own and a first time visiter (a friend who trusted what I was trying to do) to CM on 5 occassions in the past 48hrs.  On only one occassion did I have to "log into" my account after attempting to download the app.  (I believe that was because I was using a VPN on the phone at that time-not on the computer) Every other time it downloaded straight away.
It is very rare that I ever have to use log in credentials to download anything from the store.
Whilst typing this I just downloaded two apps to two different phones with no google "log in".
Try keeping it simple and stop logging in first.  Just download.
 

First, a correction.  I misspoke earlier:  There can be a difference between the location of one's "Google account" (and perhaps one's @gmail.com account, if it has an official location), and the country where one's "Google Play account" is located.  So, my previous references to "Google account" should be corrected to refer to "Google Play account".  Thus, one might have a Google account in the UK, while one's quite distinct Google Play account is linked to Thailand.

That being said, with all due respect to ScottieJohn's claims that downloading the Section38 is easy using his computer, I suggest he prove the country to which the Google Play account that applies on multiple devices (computer, phones) is assigned by providing a screen capture from his Android phone, the only place one can determine this fact.  I did so on a prior page of this thread. 

Perhaps by using different Android phones, separately registered as different accounts with Google, he has achieved one Google Play account geo-located to the UK and another one linked to Thailand.  

ScottieJohn, be kind enough to show us, as Google advises by this technique:

     "1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Play Store Google Play.
     "2. Tap Menu Menu and then Account and then Country and profiles."

A screen capture of his "County and profiles" settings that shows the country assigned for his Google Play account (not his separate Google account) can perhaps save others a lot of wasted time and frustrating effort in fruitlessly following his instructions ("no VPN required").  Thank you.

Many long-term and part-time expatriates in Thailand for various reasons may not want to set their Google Play account to this country, which will bar them from resetting it to their home country or somewhere else for at least one year:

https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7431675?hl=en

On 9/27/2019 at 8:38 AM, scottiejohn said:

Simple way round it is to connect your phone to your computer in Thailand, no VPN, connect to Internet sign into your google account go to playstore download and install.  I have just done it that way now as a test and it worked.

 

Wrong!  My phone and sole Gmail a/c originated in the UK.  The phone did NOT find  the app on it's own but doing as I posted above worked.  Before shooting the messenger have you actually tried what I suggested?

 

PS;  I said in my earlier post that I "signed into my Google a/c" which implies that I was in my account and then went to the store.  What I meant was I found the app in the store on the computer and then used my log in details to download from the store.

Edited 10 hours ago by scottiejohn
PS added

    Actually, I did try ScottieJohn's suggestion. I used a Windows 10 laptop machine, an up-to-date Chrome browser indicating it was logged into my Google account (USA), and was at the Google Play webpage: https://play.google.com/store/apps 
    
    Search at the Google Play webpage failed to find the "Section 38" app, whether searched with or without a space between "Section" and "38", or with both spelling versions in the search box.  See the attached screen capture image.  Scrolling down through hundred of other "hits" also fails to find anything resembling "Section 38" for TM.30 self-reporting of foreigner arrival in one's lodging.
     
     To help us better understand ScottieJohn's ability to download the Section 38 app, I suggest he visit his computer's Google Play webpage at https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7431675?hl=en.  There he will find details on how to change one's "Google Play country", which can only be done on an Android phone, not a computer.  
     
     Then on his Android phone he might follow the first instructions 1. and 2. to reveal his current Google Play country (far below):

  Then perhaps he can take a screen-capture of the country indicated, block out his real name for privacy purposes, and share the image to prove to the rest of us that his Google Play country is indeed the UK.  Of course, perhaps the Immigration Department, for some reason, blocks the app for Google-Play locations in the USA, but not for the UK, to search, find, download, and install this very desirable app.

     I attach a second image illustrating the kind of screen capture I hope ScottieJohn can share with us.

    
Change your Google Play country

To change your country, you need to set up a new country in Google Play. To set up a new country, you must be in that country and have a payment method from the new country.

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Play Store .

2. Tap Menu   Account  Country and profiles.    

PS.  The "TM6" is a strange app for printing out a typical Departure/Arrival card (and perhaps being pre-assigned its TM-6 number), as one is handed by flight staff while en route to Thailand, or can pick up just before the Immigration check-in desks at international Thailand airports.  How anyone would have access to a printer while en-route or standing in line for Immigration beats me.  Does anyone find it useful to print it out before starting one's travel, when the blue-ink-on-white-thin-cardboard form is readily available in flight and at destination?

     Here's how to create an entirely separate, independent Google account on a new virginal android phone (to be geo-located to Thailand for installing the Section38 app), or an old phone just factory-reset to erase all prior customizations made to it after it was once new:

https://www.greenbot.com/article/2459663/how-to-add-a-new-google-account-on-your-android-phone-or-tablet.html 

    The phone does not need a SIM card for cellular service if one's primary intention is to use it when WiFi service is available to perform TM.30 reporting. 

"Simple way round it is to connect your phone to your computer in Thailand, no VPN, connect to Internet sign into your google account go to playstore download and install.  I have just done it that way now as a test and it worked." = scottiejohn

    ScottieJohn's suggestion to bypass the geo-location on one's android phone in order for a search for the "Section38" app (to perform a TM.30 report for a foreigner returning to his/her lodging) only works to find the app and install it if one's master Google account is geo-located to Thailand. 

    All devices (phone, laptop, iPad, etc.) linked to one's Google account have the same geo-location, which does not change when one travels around the world to access one's Google account from various "overseas" IP addresses.  

    Here is what Google itself says about it.

    https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7431675?hl=en

    Perhaps ScottieJohn has 2 or more separate Google accounts (and perhaps multiple @gmail.com email addresses) that allow him to access the location-restricted Section38 app from his computer when it is unable to be found by Google Play search on his phone.  One way to determine this is if he uninstalls it from the phone and tries to find it again on the phone alone.  If it shows up, it means his phone is also geo-located by Google Play to Thailand.

    Dusting off that old android phone in the drawer to set its geo-location to Thailand will certainly require first performing a "factory" reset to become a "virgin" phone.  Otherwise, its existing geo-location to another country is probably embedded deeply inside it and still linked to one's primary Google account.  A new @gmail.com address will most likely be necessary, too -- I don't know if having an @gmail.com email address is a requirement for setting up any new android phone.

     Folks, I found the answer to my question, immediately above, of "Where O Where is the android TM.30 app that people mention using?"  UbonJoe alluded to the answer in another thread. 

     The long, disheartening answer is here: 
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/change-country-region-google-play-store/ 

     The short answer is that the app called "Section38" in Google Play will not appear in searching Google Play on android phones for which the Google Play app itself is set to any country other than Thailand.  This is a big Catch-22 for people who travel frequently back to home countries or elsewhere:  In its wisdom and beneficence, Google does not permit switching one's country setting to Thailand, downloading the app, and then re-setting the country location elsewhere.  Apparently, one is limited to only one country change per year, and even that may not work if one's IP address remains in Thailand.  

    Jeez.  Blame Google or blame the Immigration Department if it requested this non-availability to its foreign residents who spend much of the year outside Thailand.

    Have an old android smartphone sitting in a drawer?  Maybe dust it off, charge it up, and register a new Google account to be geo-located in Google Play to Thailand, just for using the "Section38" app.

14 hours ago, stillhereandlovinit said:

In regards to doing the TM30 update, I had an hour or so to kill while I was in the lounge so I just did it there and then, no other reason. I knew I was going home anyway, I had got my new TM6 number so no other reason than i was bored.

     I am a little confused by "Stillhereandloveinit" recounting his/her using an Immigration Department app on a smartphone to file a TM.30 report on his arrival back home in Chiang Mai while sitting in BKK airport in Bangkok.  

     First of all, TM.30 reports are the obligation of the Thai owner, householder, or hotelier to report a foreigner's arrival.  Doing so requires logging in to https://extranet.immigration.go.th/fn24online/ using a user ID and password assigned by the Immigration Department to the owner or householder of the place.  To my knowledge, there is no smartphone app for doing such reporting. 

     Perhaps Stillhereandloveinit owns a condo and has obtained the online reporting privileges in his own right.  Or his/her Thai spouse or friend has given out the user ID and password, and an internet browser was used to do the TM.30 reporting on a phone, but not technically an "app".  If not, what is this app used for TM.30?

     I ask because I have the Android Immigration Department app usable ONLY for 90-day reports of myself (in lieu of TM.47), which works fine.  Its login and main menu page looks like the two attached screen captures.  I have explored all its sub-menus, and can guarantee it cannot do TM.30 reports of foreigners arriving in Thai lodging.  It works great for what it is capable of.

     It would be great if foreigners who return to their main lodging after arriving in country or routinely being reported to Immigration having just stayed elsewhere in Thailand by a hotel or guest house could use such an app.  The online website at the URL given above is not very user-friendly and is entirely in Thai.

     So, Stillhereandloveinit, please tell us the name of this app as available in Apple's app store or Android's Google Play.  And send us screen-captures of what it looks like (blocking out any private details).

     Thanks.

PS.  I have yet to read any definitive exception for having to file a new TM.30 report by the householder hosting a foreigner returning "home" from a domestic trip after the foreigner has been reported staying elsewhere, even across the street, across a nearby provincial boundary line, or at the other end of the country.  UbonJoe, what say ye about this?  Is such a claim mentioned several times in this long "TM.30" thread really true, or just another Thaivisa myth?

The image Ubonjoe measures on his current passport is not on the photographic paper he surely submitted 6 years ago that I am sure was close to the 2" x 2" size specified. The size he measures now (1-1/4 inch wide by 1-3/4 inch tall) would surely have been rejected if that was the size of the paper photographs he submitted back then, as this size differs drastically from the specified 2" x 2" width and length of square aspect ratio. What is on current U.S. passports derives from a scan by the State Department of the paper photograph he submitted, then cropped and perhaps resized for insertion onto page 2 of the passport. I await reading what was the exact size of the photographs BillyBuri already mailed in with his application, and the outcome: A new passport mailed to him, or a request to send in new photos of correct size. Regardless of BillyBuri's experience, it will be just one anecdote of no statistical robustness. The passport applications mailed in by others may be processed by different officials who apply their own degrees of strictness in accepting or rejecting submitted photos on account of their size. Or even if others' applications are handled by the same processor as BillyBuri's application, the processor might have gotten out of bed on the wrong side that morning, be in an ornery mood, and apply stricter criteria than his or her usual to reject submitted photographs that on better days might have been accepted. Such discretion is a fact of life. We read complaints about it all the time on Thaivisa regarding varying application of what ought to be standard rules by different Immigration officers in the same Immigration offices, or by different Immigration offices around Thailand.

Agree that the State Department specifies "The correct size of a passport photo is: 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm). Head must be between 1 -1 3/8 inches (25 - 35 mm) from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head". But in BillyBuri's case, the relevant question is: How many sixteenths of an inch or millimeters wider or narrower, taller or shorter than this specification will be accepted or rejected by the person processing his or her mailed-in application? Hopefully, he has some additional photos of identical size as he submitted, and will measure them to inform us all to the precision of 1/16 inch or millimeter what size they were. Then add to this thread later to inform us all if they were accepted as is and a new passport sent to him, or his application was delayed by request to send in a new pair of photos.

I very much doubt that BillyBuri needs travel to Bangkok just to get a paper photograph that is exactly the 2 inches by 2 inches size requested by application forms for U.S. passports. U.S. passports no longer actually contain images printed on photographic paper glued onto the passport's page 2. The submitted photos are scanned and the image merged electronicallly with all the other data on page 2 of the passport. Indeed, the image shown on the passport is not the perfect square of equal width and height requested for submitted photos on paper. It is much taller than wide. I doubt submitting a picture a few millimeters wider or narrower, taller or shorter than the requested exact 50.8 millimeters on edge specified in the passport application will cause any problem or rejection. The image, once scanned, is obviously cropped and resized for inclusion in the passport.

   I'm not quite sure where long-stay foreigners heard or how they came to believe that they and/or the Thai person who owns the place in which they stay must report physically to Immigration to "update" their TM.30 each time they arrive anew in Thailand.

   Some years back, when moving to a new residence, it is true that the Thai owner of the property where I stay was required physically to come in to Chiang Mai Immigration with Tabien Baan book and Thai ID card to register the first time and apply for online internet access to do future reports. 

   At that time, we received the bottom half of the white form entitled "RECEIPT OF NOTIFICATION", appropriately signed by the immigration officer, dated, stamped in red with the Immigration seal, and with my name, the owner's name, address, and online-reporting account number assigned to the owner written in ink by the Immigration officer onto the form.  Since then, I have kept that form tucked into my passport, although never again asked for it.

   Since then I have left Thailand and returned many, many times.  Of course, each time I am reported to be here via the online system (currently, I believe, still at: https://extranet.immigration.go.th/fn24online/), always within 24 hours of such international arrival, as well after returning from stays at hotels elsewhere in Thailand.

   Never has the owner ever been fined or required to come in again, at least after being registered for the convenience of online reporting, as above-board cooperating hotels/guest-houses use routinely.  Never upon my once-per-year, in-person visit to extend my permission to stay has that form ever been asked for.  [CORRECTION: To avoid any problems, I now remember I did xerox that RECEIPT OF NOTIFICATION and submitted it along with all the xerox copies at my last renewal of permission to stay.  Whether it was needed or not, or they would have asked for it if were not submitted, I do not know.  But the next sentence remains valid:]  Its existence from years ago is obviously in the Immigration system's database, as is the most recent online report filed after any returns, international or domestic, to this lodging.

   So I wonder why this is not the experience of others who return to the same place, again and again.  Perhaps in such cases, the landlord or householder has not bothered to enroll in, or has been unaware of, or just refuses to use the relatively easy-to-use online reporting system maintained by Immigration.  It was undoubtedly developed primarily to make life easier for the hundreds of thousands of hotel/guest-house establishments in the country.  But non-commercial household owners can use it, too.

   Here is the New York Times' reportage on the story, in its emailed Tuesday Briefing (2019-09-17):

Thailand: Eighty-six of the 147 tigers seized three years ago from a Buddhist compound over concerns of maltreatment have died in the government’s care, officials said. The main cause was laryngeal paralysis, according to the Department of National Parks. Activists said the deaths could have been prevented.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/world/asia/tiger-temple-deaths-thailand.html 

   Although using fake passports to travel is technically illegal, some of the examples cited in the above Naew Na story appear to be otherwise honest people desperately seeking escape for themselves and family from horrible conditions, and perhaps worse, in Syria where terrible atrocities are occurring, or in Iran and elsewhere civilians are suffering. 

   After all, during the Nazi horrors of mid-20th Century Europe, diplomats and other officials of many countries provided or procured fake passports or misleading travel visas and documents to Jews and others trying to escape to safety. 

   Today, they are honored as righteous heroes for risking their own careers, and sometimes worse if discovered.  These include Raoul Wallenberg (Swedish), Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Portuguese), Ho Feng-Shan (Chinese), and Paul Grüninger (Swiss), among many others.

   See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescuers_of_Jews_during_the_Holocaust#Leaders_and_diplomats) 

   So we ought not be so judgmental about some of those who produce and use fake, illegal documents for humanitarian reasons.  Who among us would not do the same for our families in such circumstances as Europe eight decades ago or even now in many parts of the Middle East?

     This may not be relevant to the original poster (OP) whose permission to remain legally in Thailand might be expiring soon. 

     But at this morning's (6 September 2019) "Town Hall" hosted by the U.S. Consulate in Chiang Mai for American residents in northern Thailand, one topic discussed was that expatriate adult Americans in Thailand need not physically travel to the Embassy or Consulate to apply for a replacement passport.  

     Our diplomats said that using the Thai Post express-mail service (EMS) was highly reliable for mailing in the application and one's current expiring passport, and receiving back the new one at one's mailing address in Thailand by the same EMS delivery.  One attendee verified that his was submitted and the new passport returned within a week or so, even shorter than the two-to-three weeks estimated by the US Mission's webpage on the topic:

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/adult-passport-renew/ 

There was no discussion on what xerox copies to keep on hand while the old passport is not in possession. (I would suggest color copies of one's picture page, and at least any pages with one's current visa, permission-to-stay stamp, and current TM.6 slip and number.  Plus a copy of one's application if one needs to convince an official why one's passport is unavailable.)

Also, with the new banking regulations (mentioned elsewhere on ThaiVisa today) requiring in-person transactions by foreigners to require showing one's passport to the teller or clerk, one had better plan not to need such while the old and new passport are unavailable.  

    PS. As the State Department will no longer glue in additional passport pages as they once did, it's a good idea to conserve pages.  For example, when at Immigration offices or ports of entry, I will mention that I do not have very many empty pages left, and point out places on half-used pages and request the officer kindly to stamp there. 

    Indeed, I did that the other day at Chiang Mai Immigration for both a 1-year extension of permission to stay and re-entry permit.   Both officers were kind enough carefully to stamp in the vacant spots I requested.  Indeed, the tall re-entry permit was stamped horizontally (his idea) to allow more clearance from the prior stamps on the page.