Liquorice

It may be worth transferring the property to the family and taking a 30 year lease on the property.

That's an option I considered Jip, which would satisfy their inheritance worries.

My friend though is still young, not retirement age. His wife was about 43/44 years old. He is still young enough that perhaps in the future he meets someone else. That is when I can see a problem arising regardless of how well meaning their intentions are at the moment.

I am almost more concerned about what happens after a year.

As you are aware:-

If the foreigner fails to dispose of the land the Director-General of the Land Department is authorized to dispose of the land and retain a fee of 5% of the sale price before any deductions or taxes.

Exactly!

My friend is a genuine good bloke, kind, caring, considerate, but in my opinion to trusting.

Regardless of what he thinks about the rest of his Thai family, I wouldn't like to see the guy shafted later on and become another statistic of a foreigner loosing everything, or almost.

I have a couple of 'niggles' that bother me about the situation.

They married two years ago and bought a house. The vast majority of the funds coming from him.

His wife was diagnosed with a fatal illness some months ago, but despite this they bought and moved into a new home only 2 months ago. The previous almost new house was sold to one of her sisters for an undisclosed amount. and my friend topped up to purchase the new house.

Knowing you only had a limited time to live and buying a new house, why wasn't an usufruct put in place then to protect my friends assets, and why wasn't a Will drawn up. In fact why wasn't the house ownership put in his name?

He trusts her family implicitly. I have reservations, but maybe not founded.

However I'd like to find out what his options are ..........just in case!

Maybe I'm becoming to involved in a matter that doesn't involve me, but I'd to hear the opinions of others on this situation, or should I just butt out as it's non of my business.

It may be worth transferring the property to the family and taking a 30 year lease on the property.

That's an option I considered Jip, which would satisfy their inheritance worries.

My friend though is still young, not retirement age. His wife was about 43/44 years old. He is still young enough that perhaps in the future he meets someone else. That is when I can see a problem arising regardless of how well meaning their intentions are at the moment.

What you outlined is my understanding of how things work here. Your friend is very fortunate that his late wife's brothers and sisters are not creating difficulties for him in what has to be a very difficult time. Since his late wife came from a wealth family and it sounds as if the brothers and sisters are being very supportive, it would seem likely that one of them would know a lawyer who could work out the necessary arrangements.

I know some would say it's folly to ask the brothers and sisters for help -- perhaps it is, but with no heirs in Thailand the friend should think about what will happen to the property when he passes. It only makes sense that it would go to back to his late wife's family -- at least until the time that he decides to remarry. But the answer is that a lawyer is needed to make the necessary arrangements.

Thanks Nancy. The problem with my friend is that he's very laid back and far to trusting of the words and promises of others.

He has excellent relations with her family, but that's not to say that won't change in the future, especially if he happened to meet someone else. He isn't of retiring age yet, so still has a long life ahead of him. The other problem is that although he will sit down with the family to discuss the issues, they appear oblivious to their own laws about foreign land ownership.

They appear to be under the impression they can reach a mutual agreement between themselves without the need for any legal proceedings, which they will probably see as an interference.

Doing nothing will in effect mean the Land Office will come along in 12 months and sell the land from under their feet, if I'm interpreting the law correctly. No land, no house.......effectively.

I've advised him to sit down with the family first, then to consult a lawyer about his rights and the legal side of it.

Hopefully some compromise that protects everyone can be reached and allow him to continue his life as he wants.

I'm trying to get some advice and understand the Inheritance Laws in Thailand in order to assist a friend (foreigner).

His Thai wife has just passed away. She/they have no children and her parents are deceased, but she has 12 full blood brothers and sisters. They owned a house, car etc but all in her name. She left no Will.

From what I have read, my friend automatically inherits 50% of the assets, as the surviving spouse. The other 50% is shared equally between her brothers and sisters. However because of the laws concerning land ownership by foreigners he must either sell the land or transfer it to a Thai national within 12 months.

My friend wants to remain in the house for the foreseeable future.

His wife came from a wealthy family and they have no need of money, so no pressure is being placed on my friend by the family.

In the case he transferred the land ownership to a trusted family member, could some form of lease or agreement be placed on that ownership that prevented the Thai from selling the land for 30 years or until the death of my friend in order to safeguard his rights to remain in the home.

He will need some professional advice at some point in the near future, but an idea of what he can maybe expect for his future would be helpful at this moment in time.

When I first moved into my home, some expected bills didn't arrive.

Checking with neighbours it appeared everyone was using a slightly different address.

I checked with the Post Office who gave me the correct address I should be using.

The problem was because the developers unofficially named the estate which wasn't registered or recognised by the Amphur or the Post Office. Never had a problem since we adopted the new address details.

It might be worth checking with your local PO if they are holding undelivered mail in your name and check the address you are using against their records. Could save you further hassle in the future.

Any members who know of an alternative?

Local Police Station.

Your Embassy.

Local Amphur.

Alternatively try to get your own Tabian Ban and you'll never need a C of R again.

He can do the next report on-line.

Haven't you heard the news!

Well immigration told me they received my new report form this morning and is in the post and on the way back to me. The thing that concerned me was my report date was 4th May so well and truly too late to report now even though they acknowledged they received the first one on time. Will be interesting to see if they give me a later report date for next time

No it will be the same date. Just a replacement for the lost one.

So that is proof ,,that if you want to have things done correct you have to do it yourself,,don't rely on anything ,go and do everything in person than you can do it right and sleep like a baby .I don't care if I have to drive a few Ks it is worth it .

Or just do it correctly in the first place and everyone sleeps like a baby.

Stevenl gave the last reply, thank him

It's much easier to say 'go to Embassy' rather than give a detailed explanation.

Pass the buck, someone else's problem. No confrontation. No loss of face.

Most expats refer to this as Thainess. (avoid confrontation, embarrassment)

So the DLT advisor got you off his back and another earned 500 baht. Job well done for Thais.

I totally agree with stevenl, somebody was giving you BS because you certainly don't have to go to the Embassy for any reason to get a Thai DL.

Tip: Look for another farang doing an application and follow him.

Did it for him, do it for me.

I doubt you will get it at any other office.

They do things by province usually.

To be honest I never take a Thai with me to any government office.

Once only and that caused more confusion than soft mick.

If anything say you went to Bangkok and they said you had to go there because your address is in Pattaya.

They hate to be wrong and loose face.

Sometimes you've got to hang in there but remain calm and polite.

Even if they don't know the rules they usually give in just to get rid of you.

I didn't have a full motorcycle licence for the UK but bluffed it.

I pointed at the pictures on my UK paper licence, they nodded and gave me both car and motorcycle.

You'll always find someone who speaks enough English to get through.

You'll have to take 4 little tests.

Colour blindness.

Depth perception.

Reaction time.

Peripheral vision.

As I stated earlier, last week my DLT told me no licences on Tourist Visas by order of government.

Maybe Pattaya don't know, but I think that is where your problem lies.

Plan 2. See if your mates Insurance will cover you for an extra premium.

This link will tell you which office you need to go to.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/115506-thai-drivers-license-pattaya-office-location/

I had problems opening up an account without a Work Permit but Bank of Ayudhya said no problem. I have a savings account that pays interest monthly and an ATM card they also offered me a Debit Card and foreign currency account but I did not need them. I am not sure if they still do?

An ATM card is a debit card!

They probably offered you a credit card.

The only place you can apply for a OA visa is at an embassy or consulate in your home country or country of legal residence.

s

Apologies for the twenty questions, so how do I extend my Visa for another year in December, Pay an agent again or is it straight forward ?

Not need for an agent to apply for an extension of stay.They are easy to do.

You will need to show 800k baht in a Thai bank for 3 months or proof of 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht.

What documentation do I have to complete ?

Documents for Extension of Stay Permit based on Retirement

1. Completed Form TM 7

2. Passport + Copy of Homepage showing given names / Passport number / Hologram or Photo, plus;

- Current Visa or

- Current Extension and

- Last Entry Stamp

3. Proof of Address

- Copy of House owners Tabian Ban (Wife/Landlord) and

- Copy of House owners ID card. (Wife/Landlord) and

- Rental Agreement + Copy (If rented) or

- Tabian Ban (If you possess one)

4. Map pinpointing and detailing Address

5. Medical Certificate.

6. Proof of sufficient funds.

- Updated Passbook + Copy and

- Letter from the Thai Bank confirming funds. (Must match funds in Passbook)

7. Letter from your Embassy confirming Income. (If using the monthly income method)

8. Passport photo (attached to TM 7 Form)

9. Copy of both front and back of your TM 6 Departure Card.

That's what I take every year. Not every document may be asked for but better to be safe than sorry.

Your not on a Visa anymore.

You have an extension of permission to stay in Thailand until it's expiry date.

Up to 30 days before it's expiry you can apply for a new extension of permission to stay.

It is valid for 12 months from the date of issue.

You must report to Immigration every 90 days.

You need a re-entry permit if you wish to leave the Country.

If you leave and re-enter your 90 day count to report starts the day you re-enter.

An 'extension' is the choice of thousands who intend to remain in Thailand.

There are two different types of application.

An 'extension' based on retirement.

An 'extension' based on marriage to a Thai.

Each extension has it's own criteria of rules to be met to be successful.

Had a similar thing in Smith's in the UK. Full price was £2 reduced to £1.35. Check out said it was a mistake so I pointed out the trades dscription act to them and I got the product for the reduced price. Unfortunately Thailand doesnt have the equivalent of the Trades Description Act

Yes it does.

The Consumer Protection Act.

Consumer Protection Laws in Thailand are intended to protect consumers against false labelling, unfair advertising and other types of consumer protection, which would cover most if not all the situations in this thread.

http://www.thailawforum.com/database1/ConsumerProtecting-law.html

Lets re-phrase it, they are very rarely if ever used

Casually mention it if your locked in a disagreement, especially in bigger stores........puts the willies up em.

Yet another case of someone not having any idea about what is in the passport !

Here we are hearing about "multi entry non imm" and a (non existent) retirement visa .

Suggest the only way this to be resolved is for jamie2009 to scan and post pictures of what exactly is in the passport. Pics of the "multi entry non-imm" and the "retirement visa" are needed.

Yep, follows on from a topic the other day where the importance of the terminology used was important so as not to give the wrong information..................as I just did

@Jamie, please ignore my posts about the O-A Visa.

This is where the I am confused, my stamp on my re entry in February says Non O. I had a a 90 Non O, Sept 2014 to Dec 2014 which I understood was then changed to Retirement Visa giving me 15 months expiring Dec 2015. I also paid for a Multi Entry Permit. The page on my Passport does say RETIREMEN* suppose that's the Thai way of spelling it. I did my 90 day report at Jomtien today, it says THIS NOT AN EXTENSION OF StAY, basically what type of Visa do I have, I understood a Retirement Visa was an O-A Visa which I thought I had.

I did try to copy and paste the page of my Passport but it wouldn't do it.

You do not have a OA visa. You have a one year extension of stay based upon retirement.

Every time you enter the country using your re-entry permit you will get stamped in until the 14th of December.

You will have to have to apply for a new extension prior to the date your extension ends.

So the agent 'conned' me ? How do I or can I change to an O-A Visa ?

If the agent was in Thailand he didn't con you. He got you an extension of stay with a multi re-entry permit which is as much as he could do.

This is where the I am confused, my stamp on my re entry in February says Non O. I had a a 90 Non O, Sept 2014 to Dec 2014 which I understood was then changed to Retirement Visa giving me 15 months expiring Dec 2015. I also paid for a Multi Entry Permit. The page on my Passport does say RETIREMEN* suppose that's the Thai way of spelling it. I did my 90 day report at Jomtien today, it says THIS NOT AN EXTENSION OF StAY, basically what type of Visa do I have, I understood a Retirement Visa was an O-A Visa which I thought I had.

I did try to copy and paste the page of my Passport but it wouldn't do it.

Does it look like the one on the left.

@Jamie.

The Immigration law only allows aliens permission to stay in Thailand for 90 days at a time unless, you either report to an Immigration office every 90 days or leave the Country every 90 days. There are different types of Visa and 'extensions' that can dictate which method you follow.

A Non Imm O-A is valid for 12 Visa months and is multi entry.

With your Visa you can either report to an Immigration office every 90 days, or leave and re-enter to reset your next 90 day permission to stay. As it's multi entry you can leave and re-enter whenever you want up to the 'enter before date' in your passport.

On each entry it also resets the validity of your Visa back to 12 months.

However if your 'enter before date' (not the Visa expiry date) was say 15th Dec 2015 and you left the Country and re-entered on 14th December, your Visa will be valid for another 12 months, but the multi entry facility ends on that last entry.

Thereafter you either have to report to an Immigration office to receive another 90 day permission to stay, or if you wish to travel you can get either a single or multi entry re-entry permit from an Immigration office. This will allow you to come and go as before but keep your Visa valid.

If you leave the Country without getting a re-entry permit your Visa will have expired and re-entry will be refused on that Visa.

You state you last re-entered Thailand in February. What date?

You need to either report to your local Immigration office 90 days after that Feb re-entry date, which means you have to report again this month, or leave the Country again.

Hmm.... Faz, it seems you're confusing a multi-entry O-A with a multi-entry O visa. With an O-A, each entry is stamped for 365 days, with an O, it's 90 days. With the O-A you have to do 90 day reports at the local Immigration office or you could leave, re-enter, get a new re-entry and not have to do a 90-day report (although this is a stupid reason to travel - just to avoid doing 90 day reports). With a multi-entry O visa, you have no choice you HAVE to leave every 90 days and re-enter to get another 90 days permission to stay. No option to simply go to the local immigration office and submit a report.

With both visas, once the date of the actual "enter by" date of the visa has passed, then you have to get a re-entry permit to keep your permission to stay alive when you leave the country.

Sorry Nancy, I think maybe you misread my post.

Each entry may be stamped for 365 days, but his permission to stay is still 90 days.

With your Visa you can either report to an Immigration office every 90 days, or leave and re-enter to reset your next 90 day permission to stay.

I have 3 accounts at BKK.

Copy of passport plus proof of address for the first account.

The second two opened with copy of passport because I was already a customer.

You call that a lot of paperwork?

Had a similar thing in Smith's in the UK. Full price was £2 reduced to £1.35. Check out said it was a mistake so I pointed out the trades dscription act to them and I got the product for the reduced price. Unfortunately Thailand doesnt have the equivalent of the Trades Description Act

Yes it does.

The Consumer Protection Act.

Consumer Protection Laws in Thailand are intended to protect consumers against false labelling, unfair advertising and other types of consumer protection, which would cover most if not all the situations in this thread.

http://www.thailawforum.com/database1/ConsumerProtecting-law.html

Ive read through last few pages of posts and can't see if this has come up already (sorry if Ive missed it). I am on Mac desktop and on both Chrome and Safari I get past the click OK message re IE to the first page of the site but cannot click on "accept"(a different icon, hand, when hovering over "decline" appears,so appears the accept box is not functioning, and I can also download the user guide.

Is this something new or maybe part of the reports of the site crashing,being unusable for some , or a problem specific to my setup.? I'm due to report on 31st May ,but just noticed that's a Sunday so don't know why theyve given me that date?!

On the opening page of the site there is an internal box. To the RH side of that box is a scroll bar.

Scroll down to the bottom of the information within the internal box and you will find a check box 'I have read and understand the information'. After checking that box you will be able to click the 'accept' button.

Brilliant! Success...now all done and on pending so in this case it worked very well and smoothly (beginners luck?). Thankyou so much for that and such a quick reply too. Now to wait and see....

Happy to Help

Many are still getting to 'pending' but don't get the 'approved' notification and end up going in person.

If you've applied 15 days before and you don't get an 'approved' within the next 48 hours, then you can cancel that application and apply by post while you still have the time, otherwise it's a trip to Immy.

Good luck.

@Jamie.

The Immigration law only allows aliens permission to stay in Thailand for 90 days at a time unless, you either report to an Immigration office every 90 days or leave the Country every 90 days. There are different types of Visa and 'extensions' that can dictate which method you follow.

A Non Imm O-A Visa is valid for 12 months and is multi entry.

With your Visa you can either report to an Immigration office every 90 days, or leave and re-enter to reset your next 90 day permission to stay. As it's multi entry you can leave and re-enter whenever you want up to the 'enter before date' in your passport.

On each entry it also resets the validity of your Visa back to 12 months.

However if your 'enter before date' (not the Visa expiry date) was say 15th Dec 2015 and you left the Country and re-entered on 14th December, your Visa will be valid for another 12 months, but the multi entry facility ends on that last entry.

Thereafter you either have to report to an Immigration office to receive another 90 day permission to stay, or if you wish to travel you can get either a single or multi entry re-entry permit from an Immigration office. This will allow you to come and go as before but keep your Visa valid.

If you leave the Country without getting a re-entry permit your Visa will have expired and re-entry will be refused on that Visa.

You state you last re-entered Thailand in February. What date?

You need to either report to your local Immigration office 90 days after that Feb re-entry date, which means you have to report again this month, or leave the Country again.

I have a friend called 'Google'.

His knowledge seems to have no bounds and he is never arguable.

I simply type in the name of a bank and ask what is required to open a bank account.

In the UK a normal account would be referred to as a 'current account' so if you ask for that type of account you are creating your own problems. Firstly you need to state 'I wish to open a Savings account' that will get a different response.

Different types of accounts have different criteria's but a Savings account can be opened by anyone on a Visa.