Bellacissa

Immigration aside, remember that Baht for Baht, the best value for your USD is had bringin cash. I know that a lot of people is uncomfortable with that, but that's the way things are.

Do you mean bringing in USD and exchanging it for baht there or exchanging it in the states first? Or are you just saying in general, it's better to come with cash over, say, using debit and credit cards?

I've lived in the US world of debit cards for so long that carrying cash is nearly a foreign concept to me. I know that will have to change over there, but it will take a little getting used to.

One more question and then I'll leave you fine gentleman alone:

I know that I need to show at least 20k baht in cash when I arrive while entering on the ED visa. Do I need an additional 20k to show for my son on his Non-O? I can bring 40k, but I hate to fly around with that much cash if I don't have to.

Still, if the alternative is getting turned away and sent back from whence we came, I'll bring the cash.

Thanks, Paz. I'll look at both. I'm trying to avoid the border runs because of some health issues with my son, but I'll look into the runs and see if it's something he can handle. You've been very helpful!

The multi entry is available, however, because I'll have my son with me, I'd prefer not to do border runs. At most, we'd be leaving Thailand twice a year for trips back to the states, so the cost of the re-entry permits would be minimal.

As far as being interrogated, I will be one of the (possibly rare) people that is using the ED visa to actually go to school and learn the language. I won't be working - my husband lives and works outside of LOS to support us and I'll have the funds to prove it. So, it shouldn't be an issue. If it becomes one, I'll go for the Elite visa.

So, knowing all that, is the 90 Day Single Entry Non-Imm ED the way to go?

Thanks, Paz. I have an appointment with the Consul on Monday to get it changed to an ED.

So, just to be sure I don't end up with the wrong one again, what I need is a "90 Day Single Entry Non-Imm ED visa" right? I get ED extensions every 90 days at immigration for the remainder of the year. Then I come back to the states (or somewhere else outside of Thailand) at the end of the year and repeat the process.

And to enter for the first time in January, I bring the paperwork from my school, my shiny new visa and 20k baht. Is that it? Do I have it right this time?

Is the honorary consul still Forrest Smith?

He made the same mistake with me, oddly enough. He did not know an ED existed. The man is quite old, but a friendly chap.

Fortunately, I went back the next day to his office since I was still in Dallas at the time and had him cancel the Non-O and put a new full-page stamp in my passport with the correct visa with "ED" clearly visible.

Yes, it is! He is a great guy. I'm meeting him on Monday to have it changed. He could not have been nicer through all of the back and forth about it.

Thanks, ubonjoe. I'm going to call the Consul in the morning and see if I can get it straightened out. It's good to know I'm not completely screwed either way.

Quick question while I wait for a response: So, if I can't get the visa changed to an ED before I go, I'm still ok as long as I go somewhere like Laos after the first 90 days with the paperwork from my school? Would it just be that border run and then I go to immigration for subsequent extensions of stay?

Yes, there is a non-immigrant visa category ED. See this page on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/123/15398-Issuance-of-Visa.html

You are free to attend a Thai language course during the 90 days' permission to stay you get when you enter Thailand with your non-O visa, but under current rules most immigration offices will not give you an extension of stay for study. You would have to go to a consulate somewhere and get a non-ED visa to continue your studies after the initial 90 days and subsequently get study extensions. Therefore, you may as well get the non-ED now, before flying to Thailand.

Thank you, Maestro. And here I thought I had it all down cold.

I wonder why the Consul didn't know about it. I'll send him an email and see if I can get it fixed.

Some of the guys that are full bottle with your question will give you the correct info, but to my knowledge, yes you do have to get an Education Visa as you are going to teach as you have stated.

No, I'm not teaching. I'm taking Thai classes. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

I received all of my paperwork from a well known language school in Pattaya. I took it over to the Honorary Thai Consul here in Dallas, Texas and he issued a 90 Day Non-O Single Entry Visa for me and another for my son. The Consul had all of the school paperwork and knew I was going to be getting the ED extensions.

After sending scans of the visas to the school, they said that my son's Non-O is fine, but that mine is supposed to be a Non-ED. To my knowledge, there's no such thing. I understood that I get a Non-O based on the paperwork from my school and then get the ED extensions when I go to immigration every ninety days. When I told the woman from the school that, she said "We used to do it that way, but no more." I haven't had any more clarification from her yet, so I don't really know what she means.

Can anyone shed some light on this and let me know what I should do about it? We leave for Thailand on January 1st, so I have time to fix the visa problem if there is one. I feel like I should trust the Consul over the school, but I guess it's possible that something changed and the Consul just doesn't know about it. I'm hoping something is just lost in translation with the school, though.

Very helpful information. My son and I will be heading there in January and (as an American kid) he will be very confused if he ends up with beans and tomatoes on his breakfast plate.

We'll eventually work our way around to trying new versions of breakfast, but slowly, slowly...

Most embassies and consulates will not be applying the requirements to get an en extension of stay that immigration or the MOE sets to get a single entry ED visa. They will leave that up to immigration to enforce.

Most do not even ask for the hours of study now and will not be changing it.

Excellent. Dallas is known to be one of the "nice" consulates, so hopefully it will all work out. Will it affect my first extension of stay, though? Nothing like having trouble at immigration to ruin your day.

Thanks, paz. So the triple entry can be converted to a Non-O with a border run to Laos once the paperwork is straightened out, right?

So, despite my meticulous planning, I've been caught up in the ED requirement changes. I just received this from my school when I asked about the new 4 days x 2 hours requirement:

"In the document with Thai Course outline we made it 2 hour per day, 2 days per week and period 200 hour with ED Visa 1 year and approved by Ministry Of Education. This is standard for Private School. We used it long time ago for ED Visa. We can not change it easy and quickly. So, if consulate they not give a Visa. You must come to Thailand first then go to get ED Visa in Laos. But you need to bring document back with you to Thailand. Don't worried about that just try and let see."

So, the question becomes, if when I go to the consulate here in Dallas, they deny the visa based on the requirement changes, what kind of visa do I need to get? Keep in mind that this is for myself and my 13 year old son, so I want to be sure that whatever happens, I don't do anything that will jeopardize us legally getting to or staying in Thailand long enough to get this all sorted out.

So, do I get a tourist visa for us both while I'm at the consulate? Just get a visa exempt stamp on arrival (this might be complicated by the fact that we won't have return tickets)? Some other visa I don't know about yet?

I also failed to mention that he's not your typical 13 year old. He's six feet tall and weighs 220. We're not talking about a little kid here.

It sounds like his development has been accelerated.

His development has been accelerated since before he was born. He hit a growth spurt on day one and never slowed down. He's the only 13 year old I know with size 13.5 (US) feet.

Lady: IF there is an emergency, then your son should

- either go to the police station on beach road

- or go to McDonalds in Central Festival

- or go inside Mulligans on beach road at Central Festival

- or go to ANY other place than the one you suggest...

and then call you from there... your idea of telling him to get a motocycle up soi6 is clearly the most stupid thing I have ever heard...

I never said it would be the first place I'd tell him to head to. It's just somewhere that he could go IF HE HAD TO in an emergency. Clearly, if he can find an officer that speaks enough English to help him or can go into Central Festival or somewhere else public, that would be the first thing he would do. And as I said earlier, he has a cell phone and will always be able to get ahold of me, so the chances of this ever, ever happening are slim to none.

But, it is nice to know that I know someone in the area that he could run to if the need arose. That's all.

Geez, people. I'm not trying to initiate him into the Soi 6 nightlife at the age of 13 regardless of his size. Give me a little credit.

I also failed to mention that he's not your typical 13 year old. He's six feet tall and weighs 220. We're not talking about a little kid here.

sounds like the "ladies" on soi6 might enjoy your son approaching the bar of your friend...

Don't think THAT worry hasn't crossed my mind. But, it wouldn't matter if he was on Soi 6 or in the middle of Naklua. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have some mommas trying to set him up with their daughters at some point even if they aren't ladies of the night.

In every city in the uk there is a red light district, explain to your kids (when you feel they are mature enough) what the deal is, don't mask your kids eyes of life, deal with it.

They can know about it it's just not a place they should go into.

I could not agree more. And my son won't go there unless it's an emergency. There's almost a zero percent chance of it ever happening, but again, he'll have the information about where to go and who to trust if he has to.

I guess I'm a horrible parent.

I'm bringing my son (13 years old) to Pattaya in January. We'll be living there for at least a year while my husband works in another part of that hemisphere. Will we be traipsing down Walking Street? No. We'll be up in Naklua or down in Jomtien for the most part. But I do have a good friend that owns a bar on Soi 6 and I'll make sure that my son knows how to find a motorcycle taxi that will take him there should he ever be separated from me.

I can't hide every seedy aspect of Pattaya from him and he's old enough to know what a girl in a short, short skirt and stripper heels probably is, but that doesn't mean we'll be hanging out in that end of town.

Contrary to popular belief, that's not all there is to see in Pattaya.

You are going to put a 13 year old kid on a motor cycle taxi!? Are you nuts? I don't care if he is 6 foot and weighs over 200 lbs.

[emoji33]

Ha! In an emergency, yes. Normally, he'll be on riding with me.

I also failed to mention that he's not your typical 13 year old. He's six feet tall and weighs 220. We're not talking about a little kid here.

I guess I'm a horrible parent.

I'm bringing my son (13 years old) to Pattaya in January. We'll be living there for at least a year while my husband works in another part of that hemisphere. Will we be traipsing down Walking Street? No. We'll be up in Naklua or down in Jomtien for the most part. But I do have a good friend that owns a bar on Soi 6 and I'll make sure that my son knows how to find a motorcycle taxi that will take him there should he ever be separated from me.

I can't hide every seedy aspect of Pattaya from him and he's old enough to know what a girl in a short, short skirt and stripper heels probably is, but that doesn't mean we'll be hanging out in that end of town.

Contrary to popular belief, that's not all there is to see in Pattaya.

Why can't he go to someones house if he has a problem? Does everyone you know live in a dodgy street like that? Seems crazy to me.

Obviously he can, and Soi 6 is certainly is not my first choice, but if we're out on Beach Road and get separated, I'd want him to have somewhere closer than Naklua to go to. He has a cell phone and I can't imagine that we'll ever be separated, so chances are he'll never be in a situation where he has to go there. But if it was your kid, wouldn't you want him to know some safe spots throughout the city to go to if there was an emergency?

Second road was however under construction and getting new blacktop.

I was there at the end of September and riding down second road on the back of a motorbike was excruciating. I hope they have it finished before I get back in January or I might need the name of a good chiropractor.

It wasn't dead when I was there, still plenty going on, but it wasn't as nearly as overrun as it was when I went in February.