ColdSingha

I was here for 8 years on marriage visa but got divorced so i applied for student visa. I dont attend classes as i already speak thai good enough and that was fine until recently. They said they believed that i was working here. I dont work really in thailand i have income from a business in HK. My Ed visa was 7 or 8 month old. Im on the airplane now leaving for Paris.

fine with who? your school?

What if the ED visa is for doing a degree in an International program? They are not doing Thai classes so may not have the necessary Thai skills.

The international program's are normally with Universities. Maybe, Immigration are also looking at certain schools?

and no-one has done more to push the "all in visa package" then our friend Mac lol

Thailand seems to suffer from this need for officials to blab off their mouths at every opportunity with a deluge of crap just to fill their need for self importance, we have seen it time and time again, all it does is lead to confusion and miss-information

you are joking right? that deluge of crap is the truth leaking out.

no solution really, you going to have to either man up and meet the requirements for one of the visas or move on

sucks but unfortunately thailand is no longer the visa push over it once was

maybe finish your course, grab a double entry tourist visa then head to somewhere more suited your lifestyle like cambodia or philipines?

oh dear, so the thai solution is to allow the people to vote on an approved list of candidates?!

err like Hong Kong?

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Just how could corruption on such a massive scale go unnoticed ?

Simple answer is that it couldn't so those involved must have had quite an edge such as powerful allies and protection, maybe serious black on others etc.

Not a unique situation here and quite an indictment of Thainess. Nothing will change and when a new regime is in power the only thing that will change is in who have their snouts in the trough.

Guns, Girls, Gambling, Ganja: Thailand's Illegal Economy and Public Policy: Written way back in 1998 by Professor Pasuk Pongpaichit. Gives a rundown of the system by which the Uniforms get rich. Down to Baht amounts for position.

brilliant book. handed to me the first year i was here by the son of a wealthy property magnate with the words "if you are going to live here full time now you need to know how things work"

12 years ago

COMMERCE Minister General Chatchai Sarikulya insists the changes, additional restrictions and additional hurdles will not make it more difficult to operate here. And the man is ingesting a tremendous amount of LSD, or other substances if he really believes his own nonsense. Thailand should be making it easier to operate here, much like it's far more intelligent neighbor Malaysia is doing. They are offering tax holidays, assistance with construction and infrastructure, making it easier for foreigners to own property and companies, and doing the kinds of things intelligent, visionary, forward thinking people do to attract business. Thailand, on the other hand is about as creative as the state of California, when it comes to attracting and keeping business. Instead the small minded men, that were cursed with poor intelligence, and a tremendous lack of creativity, within this ministry are making things more difficult. What on earth could be going through their tiny minds? Do they not realize the amount of pressure ASEAN is going to put on industry here? Do they not realized how unprepared this country is for the big changes that are about to happen? What ever happened to the concept of being proactive? Who are these people anyway, and why were the people running this country not able to find any real talented, and competent individuals? Even one nanogram of creativity is better than zero.

Because corruption pushes the very worst corrupt unskilled (except in corruption at which they excel) individuals to the top and the best most honest people to the bottom. That's why it is such a cancer in society

its the give my nephew a job because he is my nephew syndrome

While this is fantastic to see and long overdue, we must remember to not stereotype all police officers

really? must we? it's hard to do when every one i meet is trying to shake me down or is uninterested in helping without payment

how is it i cant walk 10 yards down sukhumvit soi 4 without being offered drugs and these guys go raid a church.. :-/

Apart from setting up attitude adjustment factories and moving a couple of deck chairs what have they done?

don't be so negative, they banned the Hunger Games premier as well

What about the British Embassy for once doing the decent thing??

Get the poor guys body home and worry about the monetary aspects later!!

I'm British and I don't expect my embassy to give a flying fig about my corpse once I've carked it. What does it matter where a body is finally laid to rest? I'd rather my family (or indeed my country) kept the money (and its expensive to fly the deceased home - it's not the same as finding them an aisle seat - there are health regulations to be met, coffins to be found to hold the body, etc.) rather than moved my no-longer-in-the-remotest-bit-concerned flesh around the world.

I actually agree with you, but this is not about you or me, but about the young mans family, who clearly feel different!!

So they can pay for to take him home.Travel insurance is available in Thailand.

any recommendations for travel insurance in thailand please? (sorry off topic)

say "puut cha cha noi kap" a few times in the mirror before you go

I always go home and write down the details of everything they needed or wanted (retirement extension), knowing full well things can change, but at least I know exactly what they wanted LAST time so I'm starting from a good point.

we triple copy everything so we have record for next year

Suppose they have a new boss next year, read the previous post "knowing full well things can change".

my wife pops down a few days before to see if anything has changed since last year. so far in 4 extensions nothing has for us but i take your point there might not even be a marriage visa next year lol

I always go home and write down the details of everything they needed or wanted (retirement extension), knowing full well things can change, but at least I know exactly what they wanted LAST time so I'm starting from a good point.

we triple copy everything so we have record for next year

but it is clear that the Thai people that matter, do not want every Tom Dick and Harry turning up in Thailand and working here with no permission, ( the internet has made this possible, like never before) taking possible jobs from the Locals

Two points I don't understand here that I would like you to clarify...

1. How has the internet made it more possible than ever for every "tom, dick and harry" to turn up and work in Thailand with no permission?

2. What jobs are farangs taking away from the locals?

1, all the web designers, on-line traders, poker players, etc no work permits no tax paid.

2, jobs that westerners do without work permits, car/motorcycle dealers, bakers, multi condo renters, builders, teachers, bar owners again no tax paid

and most of them will be on Ed visa's, people that sail close to the wind - multi tourist visa's, multi visa exempt, fake marriages, all make it harder for the genuine/married/had my working life in falang land people, as they tighten all visa rules. Look at the problems now getting multi non 'o' in the UK. as an example.

How are 20/30 year old people living here for years on end, if they were working legally they would not need ED visa's or sail close to the wind

many, many under 50s are living here on money from offshore assets/businesses (passive income), trust funds, rental property back home (i lived on this income for 10 years!), savings from time working high paying jobs and others

not everyone under 50 is here illegally, in fact i'd say its a much smaller group from my time here

how long does it take a software developer, broker, banker etc take to save 25K GBP? 6 months? could live on that here for 3 years easily.

It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried. :~ Winston Churchill

Nonsense, how can somebody be deported for not attending classes. They already have a visa, extension of which should be reviewed based on previous class attendance history.

Read post #16, if you don't follow their rules, you are breaking the law, simple as that, and they have no obligation to give you any further visa's or indeed even allow you to stay + it makes it harder for EVERYONE else who IS here legally and not abusing the system to get their own visa's done in the long run.

Ever considered things getting harder is nothing to do with the actions of other expats? I see that assumption written over and over on these boards, with little to base it on. I mean the government is making things harder for people with work permits and legal businesses now, maybe they just don't like any foreigners and decide to make things hard, regardless of whether they break laws or not? http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/777983-thailand-eyeing-tighter-restrictions-on-foreign-businesses/

Good point

The crackdown/tightening of rules is not limited to Ed visa.

Back to back visa restrictions.

Reduced number of days crossing land borders

People with master's degree in physics being denied work permits after teaching 4 years (4 years is the maximum without an education degree - other degrees don't matter)

The Ed visa is the only long time visa without a proof of finances requirement.

Be thankful.

Thailand may feel there are too many long time guests in their country.

Some new rules are affecting me or my friends but I think the new rules have merit.

I believe I am their guest in their country.

I could not insist I want to live in someone's spare bedroom claiming I am keeping the room clean and causing no harm. I could even clean their house. If the host doesn't want me then I must leave.

true but if the guest was helping educate my children and paying my rent as well as his own i'd be a little more thankful

sounds to me like they are saying they want zero foreign controlled businesses now (unless meet BOI conditions)

however foreigners are welcome to invest in thai controlled businesses

all thai companies currently controlled by foreigners both big and small will have to relinquish control to their majority thai partners

have i got this right?

Fair summary I'd say (and thanks for suggestion of the cold singha... needed that)

Maybe the smaller companies are of little concern to them economically. Sure I can cite a long list of reasons why these small organisations stimulate growth but does it make a big enough impact on the bottom line? I'd guess not.

Also, maybe they have plans to revise said BOI conditions but somehow I doubt that.

i wonder if this is a response to Thaksin's sale of Shin Corp and an effort to reverse the process:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sale_of_Shin_Corporation_to_Temasek_Holdings