JustAnotherFarang

I have the utmost respect for the veterans of WWII but Thailands involvement in WWII is not worthy of much merit to be perfectly honest.  Like with most unedifying things in this country, best swept back under the carpet to keep up appearances.

3 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Inconvenient truths or misinformation? Is Zuckerberg a medical doctor? No. Do children tend to suffer less from corona virus? I think we all realize the answer is yes. Fact is corona virus is more serious for old, obese, diabetics, the chronically ill. I see nothing inflammatory in Trump trying to stop the fear mongering. Children must be terrified, and keeping them away from their education, early socializing and character building will lead to another lost generation. Get the kids back to school Trump. 

Oiii Einstein, when the kids go home, they would carry the virus back to their parents and extended families......dumbass

That was an incredibly uncomfortable viewing, how can any man justify a beating like that.  The teen was down on the ground, is that really a reason to give him a good stomping on as well.  Its sickening to watch thai society accept these things as normal.

There is a touch of the old Bernard Trink to your posts, its fun to read between the lines

12 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Or he's milking it for what he can.

I did enjoy his post, I hope he has got "udder" things to tell us about

1 minute ago, colinneil said:

Fully agree mate, amazing Issan, never stops amazing me.

Yet there will be no leg over for you, not bowing to the monks, tut, tut, that is a serious offence, you naughty farang you.

I think you mean diary of a farang though, not dairy.

He might mean what he said.........just wants to get things of his tits

I wonder what benefits await those who are married and/or support a thai family.  At the present time, with my non immigrant o visa I cannot even visit another country without having first sought permission from Immigration and then paying 1900 bht.  And all of this to pop across to Burma which is just a stones throw from where I live.

OP here.  Just wanted to take the time and the opportunity to thank the many posters who have offered constructive advice.

I have taken all of this on board and have already approached the education department and the work department to begin proceedings to ensure that when I reopen I will fulfill all the requirements regarding paying taxes, obtaining a work permit and becoming a law abiding operator.  Hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing to possess after the fact and whilst I can easily see the error of my ways it must also be said that the foresight I used to communicate with the kind posters here has been extremely beneficial.  You have been of great help with your advice and I also want to thank the many people who have also written to my personally with the kind and wise words that they offered me.   I owe you all a great debt of gratitude and thanks for guiding me through what was a difficult and stressful situation for me and my family.

Thank you

JAF 

1 hour ago, meatboy said:

i was wondering when the op was going to BITE ? calling me ASININE.STUPID,FOOLISH,BRAINLESS,ABSURD,ECT ECT ECT.

well i shant post anymore but you do seem to have a split personality.

so i wont say no more,just look after yourself.

I apologise if you feel I have made an unwarranted comment about you personally but I only said your assumptions were asinine and that your detective skills are amateurish.  In the meantime you continue to pick the bones from my previous posts and still jump to short sighted conclusions to try and justify your own remarks.  So yes, I agree, best you don't post anymore because I feel you are not contributing anything of worth to the conversation.  

Of course, even though I write this with bated breath, you may still conclude and assume whatever negative connotation that comes to mind when the simple truth is that I was merely responding to questions that needed to be answered and reserving the right to not be castigated or admonished any further for the error of my ways.   Let those who have the right to penalise me be the those who will punish me,  but today, of all days, don't keep kicking a man when he is down.  You are flogging a dead horse and nobody is trying to encourage you into doing it.

Thank you

JAF

2 hours ago, meatboy said:

having just read the op. asking for advice from urban joe on the 22july,is this a COCK AND BULL STORY.

he says the advice is about renewing his non o visa.

after 15yrs.he doesnt know what the requirements/documents for renewing it based on marriage.

he says the the extension date/red stamp which is stapled in his passport,is not what he thought,urban joe pointed out that is your 90day report date.

then he reports that he went to immigration on the 26th.july and all was done there and then in 4hrs.

yet he says imm.were not happy with many things that included,bank book,copies,and the letter from the bank.

he goes on to say he had to get a statement from head office showing withdrawals but not deposits.all this done in 4hrs.

if imm.were not happy with all what he has posted 26july i am sure immigration would pick up on your income as you,

dont work,no work permit.

yet there in black and white shows money coming in and going out.

for his sake i hope i got this right. ANYONE READ HIS POSTINGS 22july-26july.

 

 

There is no need to doubt the veracity of my story because I am not hiding anything, other than my identity and location, for obvious reasons.  I will gladly reply to your queries raised above but I must add that I wonder what it is that you are hoping to achieve with your amateur sleuthing which is merely based on your own more asinine assumptions.  

1. I do indeed correspond with Ubon Joe regarding visa issues as I feel he is one of the most reliable and trustworthy people on Thaivisa to deal with and that he is willing and able to verify what details need to be addressed for my yearly non immigrant o visa.  Its not that I dont know the details from the previous year, it is to see if the visa goalposts have moved in the meantime.  You will also see that I did mention my concerns regarding the immigration officer whose daughter had learnt with us previously and that I was also considering avoiding the office entirely for fear that I was going to implicate myself.  As it turned out, I took my chances, the woman concerned was not in the office and that I successfully achieved the non immigrant o thanks to the time and patience of kind members like Ubon Joe.  

2.  The comment I made about the red stamp was to enquire why I had to go a month before my non immigrant o expired.  In the previous year I had to go 7 days before my visa expired and pay 1900 bht for what I assumed was the months extension that they provided to check all the paperwork, but last year it seems things had changed and that is why they were requesting me to report again the month before my visa ended to allow them time to process all the paperwork before the original visa expired. I was just clarifying issue with Ubon Joe at the time.

3.  It is true that I did complain about it taking 4 hours to complete what should be a relatively simple process and that immigration did not seem to know there arse from their elbow.  In my original post I said the following, and i quote " they were not happy with my photo copies (all had to be portrait) but then others like my housebook had to be landscape. Also not happy with my google map and longitude and latitude bearings, had to make a computer generated map showing the shops along the way. Also not happy with my bank book copies and letter from the bank, had to get a statement from head office showing my withdrawals as well. And then we had to wait for the lady to finish her photocopying before she could print out the forms for my wife to sign"  My wife always takes the time to talk with them first (its a thai thing, they prefer to take advice from other thais, especially those in any authority) and on this occasion they even though we followed all of their advice, when arriving at the office they did not accept portrait copies of one thing and landscape copies of another which meant we had to pay to use their photocopying facility, small beans, no big deal.  But the letter that I got from my local bank that I had to pay 200 bht for was now unacceptable which meant having to travel 20 km and pay another 200 bht just to get another copy of the same letter but from head office.  Forgive my whining in that post but I was a little under the weather and wanted to sound off in what I thought was an forum dedicated to visa issues. 

4. With regards to the money in my account, well I have several accounts but only have to show one which has 400,000 bht in.  This money has remained in the account for well over 5 years now, it is there to appease the authorities.  I do not withdraw money or put further funds in, it just lies dormant and is considered to be rainy weather funds.

5.  Last but not least, thank you for taking the time to respond but I don't think you have contributed anything of worth by assuming that my situation is a cock and bull story.  I hope that my explanations above help you to understand the situation more clearly and lead you not to misconstrue or add further insult or injury with your scurrilous claims as it is neither needed or warranted by you or others of your ilk.  In this thread many kind people have taken the time to reply and offer constructive advice and criticism.  I have also been berated for not paying tax and that is something I can accept as I have knowingly  broken the law.  If I could have a work visa as a teacher working with my wife then I  would also have willingly paid pay taxes on the money I earned.  This is not in any way an excuse, its just a simple matter of fact.  I have paid all other taxes relating to my possessions such as my car, motorbikes and of course my land and home so I have not broken any other laws that I am aware of.  Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone and if you are not in thai authority, then look closer at your own family or friends as I am sure that you will find nearer targets to aim your vitriol at. 

I have also had people pour scorn and suggest that I haven't bought a house and land and that I do not care enough about my family or that I would not have put them through this situation by making them suffer from insecurities.  Well this is were I draw the line with such nonsense.  These people are not privy to my personal life and whilst they may feel it necessary to castigate and admonish me for my sins these people cannot become judge and jury of my family's feelings  I can assure you that my family do not see me as a burden or a problem to them but they do think that the attitude of some foreigners in this forum is deplorable and beneath contempt.   I wholeheartedly agree with them.  

So with this in  mind I will be asking the moderators to close this topic to any further replies as I feel I have already received the best advice which was to close and try to reopen as a legitimate business.  Once again, many thanks to all those who have helped and I wish you all the very best in the holiday season.  May all your problems be small ones and if they are not, think twice about asking for advice from your fellow man on this forum as there are many nasty trolls just waiting to pounce and make light of your situation.

JAF

Hi guys

I am the original poster and inbetween fretting, stressing and trying to close all the loopholes that could leave me hanging I have also taken the time to read every single response which was quite overwhelming.  Thank you to everyone, even the naysayers and bitter ones for taking the time to read my posting and for taking the time to reply.

Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight regarding information that I failed to include in my original posting.  I am a married to a thai national who I have been with for 16 years and I live in Thailand with my non immigrant o visa.  Whilst I am well spoken, articulate and with a sensible amount of intelligence I have never attended university and do not possess a degree.  The reasons for this are of a more personal nature but suffice to say that I was brought up under the care of the local authorities in childrens homes and upon reaching the ripe old age of 16 I was allowed into the community to pursue my own life.  Instead of choosing higher education I set out into the world of work and found several jobs of gainful employment.  At the age of 31, on a new years eve, I finally left my home to travel around Asia and on day 4 of my travels I met a girl, a very decent and reputable lady, who became my wife. 

I started teaching in the local school 14 years ago, I was the only farang in the small town and I taught nigh on 1250 students every week for a wage of 25,000 bht without a work visa.  This was my humble beginning to teaching and although it was extremely tiring, I thoroughly enjoyed helping the community that I lived with and became very popular.  That was when I started teaching privately and at first I had about 30 students who enjoyed learning with me.  Business was good and everyone was happy.

After 3 years, the school had a change of headmaster and the new guy decided that I was surplus to requirements and so that was when I decided to up sticks and move into a more central area of the large province that I live in.  Once again I got a job working in a government school and within a short time I was teaching students privately.  My style of teaching is considered to be humourous and entertaining and my perceived personality is considered kind and pleasant.  I was admired by parents who wanted their kids to learn with a clean cut guy who did not drink, smoke or frequent any places of ill repute.

After another 2 years of working in the government school the laws started to change and the fact that I did not have a degree became a major sticking point. This is when parents asked me to concentrate on just teaching privately and I jumped at the opportunity to carry on living in the province I now called home.  Over these years I have built up a very profitable and successful business, purely by word of mouth and quality teaching and I became well known to almost everybody in my hometown.  The business was profitable enough that I was able to buy land and build my own home which had always been a life long dream as I had never had a home to call my own.  My students often come to visit me there and we hold christmas parties and special occasions for  them on a regular basis.  I must add that my classroom is not situated at my home, I have a separate premises for my business.

About 18 months ago, a member of thai immigration came to inquire about classes for her child.  I was quite surprised to see her as she had found me in situ so to speak but she still enrolled her child to come and learn everyday.  Her daughter excelled along with the other students but 8 months ago her mother pulled my wife to one side and asked if I had a work permit.  My wife replied honestly and the official said that I must get a work permit as things were changing.  The following term, her daughter stopped learning with us.

It was only in the last 2 weeks that our suspicions grew.  The neighbour across the road is a friend of my wife as they often meditate together at the local temple and she forewarned my wife of their initial enquiries.  Last night, it was my wife herself who recognised and realised that the same guy was driving past the classroom with another guy.  Later on, she also recognised the other guy who we normally deal with at immigration driving by as well, very slowly and obviously looking to see what was going on.  We immediately recognised the imminent danger and decided to forego the Xmas party and present giving that was scheduled for today and decided to leave the classroom in darkness for the foreseeable future.  We realise now that to continue would be suicidal and we are taking evasive actions with regards to dismantling the classroom, consulting with a lawyer and calling upon those who might be able to offer assistance.  

This is, as those who are more empathetic, a very very sad time for us.  Although we realised that we were breaking the archaic law that prevents a man from providing for his family, we had also assumed that everyone knew who we were, where we were and that we are just normal upstanding members of the community providing a valuable service to the people within our province.  We have always hoped that they would leave us alone to continue on our way as has been the case for 14 years.  Although I may not have paid tax directly, I have contributed countless hours of voluntary work and have assisted many poor students who were unable to pay, to enjoy an opportunity of an education that has benefited their families directly.  We always thought of it as a more karmic offering and that we were giving back to the community at a more grass roots level.  I have also supported my wife and her large family and I have paid for and put 5 of their children through university education.  They now all have well paid jobs (by thai standards) and can look forward to reaping the harvest of the seeds we have sown for them.  

But alas, it now all seems for naught as I am now in jeopardy. And now that I have bared my soul I can see those naysayers, ne'er do wells and others of a more pompous and superior disposition picking there way through this posting, look for minute and miniscule reasons to berate me and add insult to injury.  So I say to those guys, those who feel that they must grind an axe to feed their moral superiority, to just stop for a moment and consider those words that you might write.  I have done my very best, for each and every individual I have met along the way to try and tried to make a positive difference to their lives.  Yes I was financially rewarded and yes I have done well for myself but I have dedicated myself to working 7 days a week for 14 years to build my own home.  I do not think that I am the be all and end all and nor do I need or seek any applause but I really do not deserve such condemnation from any man  just for trying to do the very best that I can for my wife and my family.

Last but not least, to my students who will read this message on Facebook, it is with a very heavy heart and great sadness that I am forced to bid you all farewell.  I will take the time to say goodbye to you all personally and to give you your Xmas presents.  We have had some great times together and watching you all blossom from young children to the mature and open minded individuals that you have become today has been one of the greatest joys in my life.  A lot of you are like family to me and I will dearly miss you all but remember that if ever you need a friend, a shoulder to lean upon or just some friendly advice, I will always be there for you.

And so, with the motto of thai immigration motto of "good guys in, bad guys out" ringing in my ears, I bid you all a good day and may you have pleasant holidays with your loved ones

JAF