ColdSingha

that elite card is gonna look a whole lot more attractive now..

tuition 60,000

edvisa + travel 5000

extensions x 3 5700

travel 50 x 4 x 50 weeks 10000

total 80,700

plus of course 8 x 50 weeks tuition = 400 hours of your life

Let's see first how the private education industry and the regulations adapt to each other, over time.

My thinking is that there will be an increase of cost and inconvenience for staying in Thailand, but not a dramatic one. And that if and when the industry will be able to self regulate, more options will become possible, e.g. reliable attendance/proficiency cards, advanced course program to setend study duration over multiple years, reintroduction of yearly extensions, etc.

It is a job for the industry to become credible to the government, with a national associations, quality and ethical standards, best business practices, etc. Of course if Thailand is OK with having schools that are run they way many are run now, no progress will ever be made.

agree with everything you say, especially the last line

short term though inconvenience just doubled, the market will set price

that elite card is gonna look a whole lot more attractive now..

tuition 60,000

edvisa + travel 5000

extensions x 3 5700

travel 50 x 4 x 50 weeks 10000

total 80,700

plus of course 8 x 50 weeks tuition = 400 hours of your life

ouch

 

I am replying to this thread because I was in a similar situation to the OP and spent 2009 and 10 in SE Asia primarily in Thailand on tourist Visa's, I spent on average 80k baht per month which was about 10x what the average Thai spends.  All of my spending was on food, lodging, and services all $ coming from the US and staying in Thailand.  This type of tourist spending brings much greater benefit than Chinese who by foreign brands at duty-free shops and bring goods out of the country.  
 
Most countries would welcome these types of visitors for as long as they wanted to stay.  I don't understand all the hatred against people who choose to live this lifestyle and I believe that the number of people doing this and their contribution to the Thai economy is underestimated.   
 
Every thousand people spending 1M baht per year in Thailand is generating 1B  baht in annual inflow.  If 100k living this lifestyle take their money elsewhere that is 100B baht/year or $3+B or nearly 1% of Thai GDP.   Additionally these people act as tourist ambassadors for Thailand encouraging friends to come visit them bringing more money to Thailand.  In fact a friends recommendation is what brought me to Thailand for the first time back in 2002.  
 
If TV posters are representative of the type of foreigners left then I expect Thailand's appeal to diminish further.   Thailand won't be on the itinerary of my upcoming Asia Pacific trip partially because I've spent a lot of time there and it's less interesting but primarily due to the unwelcoming vibe and uncertainty over problems with immigration about the amount of time I had previously spent in Thailand.  
 

Again RUBBISH RUBBISH. Thai bureau of stats estimate between 400 to 500,000 expats living here. Meaning farang.
Last year 2013. 26,000,000 tourists visited Thailand 1.7 million Chinese alone.
Also you say most countries would welcome people to come live in their country. WHICH COUNTRIES. Try Australia, USA etc. Good luck buddy. The thai economy will be fine without the 0P 0ne mill baht per year, and all the others staying here without appropriate visa. Go home!
 

I don't understand your anger and xenophobia.  The US makes it easy for tourists, you get a six month tourist visa when you come  and can extend it by six months without leaving the country.  After one year the tourist does have to leave the US but if they could prove they spent 6x the average gdp on their stay they could go home and and get another visa no problem.  
 
The tourist numbers are inflated by the expats living as each one is counted 5x per year and the Chinese don't stay long and




jdon't leave much money in the country.  The numbers are down this year and pushing out good spenders isn't going to help.

You on drugs????? Australian citizens can get a 90 day visa to USA. Thai chicks zero. America has one of the most protected borders in the world. I have no problem with that. Mind you it does not rate on worlds richest countries per capital. That's another topic.

a few of my thai friends (female) have 10 year US multiple entry visitor visas. they said they were easy to get

I disagree, if you are found working illegally, especially now, you become an export, end of.

 

do you have an example or is this your opinion?

the only guys i've ever known to be caught working illegally in 12 years being here were a couple of djs working at a beach bar on samui

 

immigration took photos of them from the shoreline (lol) then came in hauled them off the decks and fined them 10K each at the local police station.

 

no further action

Whats the "see you next month" part?

 

i think he's implying if you don't have a work permit when we come back next month it's another 5K

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/07/travel/phuket-beaches-opinion/index.html?

Which one says Holiday in Paradise? Photo #1 or #2? (#7 and #8 show the best contrast)

For every tourist missing his rental beach chair, there's a dozen that have (for many seasons) been missing a place to toss out a towel and enjoy what they used to come to Thailand for.

Maybe now, they'll be back...

totally agree a few years back we went to Surin beach and just turned straight back around and left. the mess they made of the beaches in Phuket was one of the main reasons we decided to move to Hua Hin

i hope they clear Cha-am too

 

Thailand has a GDP of 360+ Billion baht a year. The economy will fall to its knees when the OP takes his million baht away with him    

Please don't forget he is not alone, but have 2/3 friends who will take their one million Baht out of Thailand too  Pffff
 

Well, if all young retirees and freelance workers do indeed leave for other countries, it will have a negative impact on certain sectors of the economy. On the other hand, if the old farts who spend their days (and nights) glued to barstools did, no one would notice the difference.
 
Talking about the grey hair brigade, I wonder whether those who constantly applaud the recent immigration "crackdown" would still feel the same way the day the Thai government decides it wants more "quality retirees" instead of sexpats and decides to increase the minimum income/money in the bank requirement for a retirement visa.

plenty of rich oldies propping up bar stools :D

They prefer lots of elderly Pattaya sexpats on retirement visas instead. That is how you maintain a positive image in the eyes of the world.

or how to remind your fellow thais to not be too "western"

smelly backpackers too :D

Where are the Digital Nomads? They should be waking up soon.

all in laos getting ED visas or yawning because they already have them

All new ED applicants just follow what is a standard application and approval.

Students going from year 1 to year 2 or year 2 to year 3 apply in the same way but instead of just getting a visa extension at immigration they must now leave the country to obtain a new visa from a Thai Consulate or Embassy,

Can no longer give 15 months in the first year it will be 13 months only

If you enter Thailand on a 30 day tourist visa then apply for a student visa this 30 day or 60 day will be deducted from your 12 month student visa

Learning via skype like some schools offer does not get you a student visa,

all students currently on student visa's having done more than 12 months must re-apply for there student visa's after the 29th of August.

where classroom time (not confirmed yet will go from 4 hours per week to 8 hours per week) this will effect all the smaller schools who only have 1 or 2 classrooms)

after everyone gets a new student visa, schools are to be inspected on a regular basis, non attendance at schools will result in visa's being cancelled 70% attendance is required.

all visa shops law firms and visa booths in bars are also to be inspected and forced to give the names of the schools who are supplying the paper work for them.

Most schools are investigated as they simply have more customers than can sit down in the classrooms even if they open 24 hours per day, these schools are in big trouble and we where informed that 1 school has already been closed resulting in peoples visa's being cancelled.

what's the source please for this?

Am not married but have Thai child. Am I eligible?

Is this how the process works? Apply for tourist visa from outside of Thailand. Extend at immigration office in Thailand for 1 year, never having to leave the country and being able to fly in and out as I please

Which bank is best for this? Am not on any visa so not sure they would allow me to open account.

In order to get an extension of stay you must first have your parenthood legitimized you name on the birth certificate is not enough. See  How To Gain Parental Rights As A Father
With your name on the birth certificate you can get a single entry non-o visas and 60 day extensions at immigration to visit your child.
After having the legitimization in order to get the extension you would first have a non-o visa. Or if you had a tourist visa you could apply for a change of visa status to get a non immigrant visa entry at immigration in Bangkok.and then apply for the extension.
If you are already here you could go to Vientiane and get a single entry non-o visa and extend the 90 day from it for 60 days to give you time to get the legitimization done.
You can open a bank account without a visa. You just would have try different banks and branches.
 
 
 

is there an age limit? for instance if my kid was 21 would i still be able to get a visa/extension?

or is that it, kid grown up, i go home?

what type of visa do you have?

The problem with rotation work is that it varies greatly on the cycles, some highly intensive jobs will have more frequent cycles than others, and depending on location, some will be unbalanced, ie, either more time on location or more time off. Not every cycle is based on 28/28, and IMHO, it is the rotation workers who have more than 30 days off that are going to suffer through the visa exempt crack-down. Anything over 37 days (30 day exemption + 7 days extension), then people will need to think about the future situation.
 
As for using the visa exemption out of context, here is a personal example.
 
Although this is going back a few years, while I was working in Hong Kong we were working on a 8 day patrol cycle, 8 days at sea and 8 days alongside, with periodic breaks for maintenance periods. On the 8 days off, if we didn't have duties we could within reason do what we wanted. So at that time, with no duties to hinder me, I was spending more time in Thailand than I was in Hong Kong. Each entry on a visa exemption with never a word said.
 
I was not abusing the system but using the system as it was meant to be used, not back-to-back but frequent visitor. This was for almost 3 years. I can't see why it would be viewed any differently today, especially for rotation workers that will be in country for 30 days or less.
 
IMHO, maybe people are thinking too much about this.

i guess we will start finding out in 6 days time

do we have to fill these forms in (foreigner and housemaster) if for instance wife owns house and foreigner reports living there on visa extension and 90 day reports?

-------------------
Yes, I believe so.
But it has nothing to do with 90 day reporting as far as I know.
The law simply states that a house owner who has a foreigner living with them must report that fact within 24 hours of that person's arrival (as I understand it).
Actually this law is not new, it has been around for some years.
Just like many things in Thailand it has simply been quite often ignored.
Now with the military, they are simply enforcing the old law.
And the 2000 Baht fine for not reporting it before on your arrival is the correct amount.
In my case, I retired in 2010 and stayed with my Thai girlfriend and her family for 2 years.
Back then, nobody wanted to take my notification..... at least here in Bangkok.
All part of the "joy of living in Thailand".

i went to immigration yesterday. wife had to fill in a TM30 as house owner but i didn't have to fill anything in as i was already reported there (extension of stay non-o)

i moved here two years ago, thinking hua hin was wonderful..... and i still do today
 
it is a great city to live in.  we have countryside, we have access to dozens of beaches easily, we have access to BKK easy, we have shopping centres, couple of hundred bars, loads of restaurants..... all the holiday resorts in the south are only a half days drive away.... BKK airports are not far, bringing with it unlimited cheap travel options
 
it is reasonably friendly for a small city and quite cheap too.  it has plenty to do for both young and old (and those inbetween)
 
100,000 should be plenty..... maybe let the wife handle the finances.... seems to work for a lot of couples round here
 
enjoy your retirement and enjoy Hua Hin

second everything you say. gem of a place but then i like it busy, feels safe too

@ Paz ...I hope you are not thai...so why dont you go back to your country rather than making fun of a serious isaus..and if you are thai..then I am sorry to say dat you are an illeterate person in this matter

spell checker fail :D

More nonsense from a border crossing in the south.

They are setting their own rules completely different from the rest of the country.

 

this could be a very valid question to ask the commander the next time TV is granted an interview.

 

a worrying turn, clampdown continues up the chain 

 

Ruling (with no supporting official requirements) to spend one night outside of the country is not a clampdown.

 

It is the same as saying "Sorry we're are being ridiculous at the moment, please come back tomorrow to play all along with the farcical rules that a local chief has set, for as long they last".

 

 

i see your point but its a bit of a mouthful. i'll stick with clampdown if you don't mind 

a worrying turn, clampdown continues up the chain 

do we have to fill these forms in (foreigner and housemaster) if for instance wife owns house and foreigner reports living there on visa extension and 90 day reports?

 

a high % doing deviate and hideous crimes??!! now we're sure where you spent your time. lol!!  why don't your generalizations surprise me?? lol

 

 

careful i think he's ex-special forces 

haha loads of these guys and kebab sellers around

What if his Thai wife wants to keep HIM... as a "househusband"

 

Or does the law prevent them living together?

 

And if they have children, and he wants to look after them, because the wife earns lots of money....

 

(For example she works "nights"....)

 

then she can put 400K baht in HIS bank account and he can get an extension of stay