nicelee808

Hello all,

Would I be right in thinking that the best possible exchange rate I could get, would be if I had the cash GBP rather than using a currency transfer company or a bank.

I am looking to take around £26,000 from the UK to Thailand, doing this through my bank as a international transfer I would only get 47.62 Bt to the pound even though the rate today is 48.82, HiFx were quite good as I would probably get around 48.5.

I am tempted to actually take the whole lot in cash, £50 notes, hoping this would give me the chance to get a higher exchange rate.

Any input would be appreciated

I am about to apply for my Non O 3 month visa, which I believe is a single entry, which I will be looking to extend for a 1 year visa 30 days before expiry. While im on the 3 month visa can I go to Cambodia and return a few days later.

1. Yes you can.

But what is your curent visa, if you are in Thailand?

Non immigrant O 90 day visas are normally issued outside of Thailand.

If you are currently here in Thailand then your first step is to convert the visa you're on....a tourist visa, for example....to a 90 day non immigrant O visa at your local immigration.

Then you have that 90 days to get your paperwork, and financial requirements, ready to extend that 90 days visa to a year long extension.

The normal reasons for that extension are marriage to a Thai, retirement, or education.

If you are currently outside Thailand you can apply for that 90 day visa at a Thai consulate in your country.

For most extensions there are financial requirements. The purpose of that 90 days is often to allow you to get any required Thai bank account established and have it established for the required 60 days (seasoned) before you apply for your extension.

2. If during that 90 days you wish to leave Thailand and return, you need an exit re-entry permit. That permit does exactly what it says....it allows you to exit and then re-enter Thailand while keeping you 90 day visa valid.

Without that exit re-emtry permit, leaving Thailand would cancel your single entry visa. (One entry, one exit equals a single entry visa).

An exit re-entry permit costs 1000 Baht for a single, 3800 for a multiple.

3. If you're outside of Thailand the advantage of getting a Non O multi entry one year visa is that you have effectively one year to "set up" in Thailand.....opening a bank account, renting a flat, maybe buying a car....before you need to apply for your extension. In short, your not so rushed.

The disadvantage of that one year multi entry Non O visa is that you need to do 90 day border runs....each entry gets you 90 days as long as that multi entry visa remains valid.

Which one you want to pick is your choice.

Thanks IMA Farang

My Situation is,

I am married to a Thai with 2 kids, we have been living in England for 3 years, we now want to live in our home in Ubon and start to cut our rubber, my initial plan was to get the single entry 90 days, upon arrival open a bank account immediately, or within 2 weeks off issue of the visa, put 400K+ into the account, so before the 90 days are up I wouldve had over 400K in account for over 2 months(cutting fine but possible I think).

But now we are thinking that we would like to visit Angkor Wat for the Winter Solstice, so it might be better if I get a multi entry, on the 10th of November enter Thailand on the 20th of November, go to Angkor Wat on the 20th of December and return to Thailand on the 24th of December, obtain another 90 days on re entering then apply for a one year extension at Immigration after 24th of Feburary 2013

You do at immigration during the last 30 days of any stay - so if you obtain a multi entry you can enter for 90 days - take your trip and return for a new 90 days and during the last 30 days of that stay do your extension (or wait until later and just cross border/return for new 90 day stays until the year validity ends or you decide it is time to extend.

Thanks for clearing that one up,

Could you please consult me on my next brainwave which is: If I get a multi entry, on the 10th of November enter Thailand on the 20th of November, go to Angkor Wat on the 20th of December and return to Thailand on the 24th of December, obtain another 90 days on re entering then apply for a one year extension at Immigration after 24th of Feburary 2013. Would this work or am I still off the pace here.

Regards Lee

You can extend during the last 30 days of any entry - but if you are not going to use but one entry that is all you need. But there is no such things as a 3 month visa on arrival. You either obtain at a Consulate for valid reasons or during a conversion for valid reasons here at immigration office. To obtain here would be an extra 2,000 baht fee and require an extra set of financial documents/visit to immigration.

Sorry, I meant the the single entry from the thai consulate here in England which is valid for 3 months or 90 days. So are you saying that on a 1 year multiple entry I can go for the one year extension after 60 days, if so do I still need to leave the country or can I just do this at Immigration 30 days before the first 90 day border run.

I want a single entry 3 month visa on arrival because I would like to apply for the one year extension as soon as possible, on a multiple I would have to wait for a whole year before extending and I would also have to do a border run every 90 days, which involves further costs and time.

regards Lee

thanks everyone

Thanks Lopburi,

What documents would be required for the re-entry permit and how long does it take to arrange.

Lee

Hello all.

I am about to apply for my Non O 3 month visa, which I believe is a single entry, which I will be looking to extend for a 1 year visa 30 days before expiry. While im on the 3 month visa can I go to Cambodia and return a few days later.

They are all pretty much the same, deposit/saving will get you around 2.5- 3% ish dependent on where you go, you'll need to shop around, they all have websites. Dont forget that you will lose 15% of any interest to tax.

You also need to consider whether or not you want online banking and whether or not you'll be transferring money regularly from abroad, which country etc.

Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn seem to be popular with many and I use them both. Doesnt pay to have all your eggs in one basket.

I will be transferring money from abroad once in a while

To Clarify,

I will be depositing 400K Baht into a Thai bank for 2-3 years or more what bank account should I put it in?

My wife will be depositing 200k Baht into a Thai bank for 1-2 years what bank account should she put it in?

The answer depends on what you want/need to use the account/s for ... will it be related to your visa? do you need to have internet banking? debit card? etc. If none of the above apply to you, then have you considered and ruled out mutual funds, for example?

The 400k for me will remain in the bank for my visa extension, I dont need internet banking(I dont think!), wouldnt mind a debit card but probably not essential.

would really just like the money to do something while its sitting there

To Clarify,

I will be depositing 400K Baht into a Thai bank for 2-3 years or more what bank account should I put it in?

My wife will be depositing 200k Baht into a Thai bank for 1-2 years what bank account should she put it in?

Hi All,

Does anybody know, as a foreigner(falang) I have read I can open a account with my passport and Non O visa, are there any recommendations to any accounts/bank that I shound open that would pay a yearly interest rate and if anyone knows roughly what sort of interest rates are available.

Also which account should I open for my wife, she is Thai, again accounts/bank and what sort of interest rate she should be looking for.

Any Input would be appreciated.

Regards Lee

That is about Permanent residency, not getting Thai nationality.

But in both cases it is difficult and the main criteria is if you are an asset to Thai society. That you must show by working and paying taxes, the more the better.

Mario,

I understand your point, but even if Im not working and by the sounds of things I wont be, I still will qualify to apply for a Residents Permit based on my circumstances, once I have completed 3 years of extensions and am married to a Thai and the fact that my children where born in Thailand, so your post could be taken as misleading.

Regards Lee

Which you won't get without having paid Thai tax for 3 years on what they deem to be a suitable salary.

dosent state that in the following

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/doc/residence/quota_detail_en.pdf

I volunteered at the local village school for 5 years, starting from your position of being on a marriage visa.

I had to organise all the paperwork myself, which was the best course of action, as I had a handle on it.

This involved getting a work permit, which at the time only needed a valid visa, letter from the Local Education Authority and a contract from the school. At visa renewal, when they saw my work permit, the Immigration dept. changed my visa from marriage to work, but as I was a volunteer, they didn't need any financial info.

Three years ago the school was told that all teachers must have a teacher's licence, and so they obtained a 2 year waiver for me.

This waiver became the important paper at visa and work permit renewal time.

When the school attempted to extend the waiver, they were eventually told that I did not qualify (I didn't meet any of the requirements from the outset), so I applied to renew my visa based on marriage. The Immigration dept. needed to see that my work permit wasn't extended.

The Teachers Licensing dept. did change their mind after a couple of weeks (probably because of it being brought to their attention on a forum such as this), but by then it was too late, as the work permit was about to expire leaving no time to 'jump through the hoop'.

My advice: Do take the time to get the correct paperwork, because the consequences are dire.............

NotEinstein,

Sound unfortunate, goes to show how all these rules are not always going to benefit the average people in Thailand, thanks for sharing.

Regards Lee

That is about Permanent residency, not getting Thai nationality.

But in both cases it is difficult and the main criteria is if you are an asset to Thai society. That you must show by working and paying taxes, the more the better.

Mario,

I understand your point, but even if Im not working and by the sounds of things I wont be, I still will qualify to apply for a Residents Permit based on my circumstances, once I have completed 3 years of extensions and am married to a Thai and the fact that my children where born in Thailand, so your post could be taken as misleading.

Regards Lee

Think you may need a reality check!

" I would possibly like to do some labouring for a local builders."

How much do you think building labourers get paid in Thailand?

Same goes for most other occupations.

Ginkas,

I think you need to keep your opions to yourself! I would the labouring for free, not everything is about money.

But the fact remains you need a work permit even if a volunteer worker (unpaid). A proper NGO can arrange such but your post was not clear you were talking about such volunteer work.

Lopburi,

Thanks for your replies, youve been very helpful

Unfortunately not quite what I was hoping for, but as you stated the facts remain the same. Me and my family will just have to see how things go, if we run out of money a few years down the line I will just have to support them from the UK.

It seems that the only thing open to me would be to teach, but I am not qualified so this is also not an option and I dont have a degree of any sort, only 18 years experience in Comms Cabling/Fibre Optics/Site Foreman.

I would definately be interested in volunteer work, so forgive me but what is a NGO?

Regards Lee

Sounds like I'll be a house husband until I become a citizen,

I assume you mean Thai citizen? Unless you are born to a Thai mother or father (in which case you are already Thai), don't get your hope up for becoming a Thai citizen without a history of working and paying taxes in Thailand.

Sophon

maybe you should look at the following link.

http://www.thaivisa.com/300.0.html

What I realy do not understand, that you are talking about what a Thai can do in the UK, and that you can not do the same here in Thailand, this is Thailand, not the UK, and Thailand has his own rules and laws

If you read this topic from the top, then you might understand

Sounds like you people have had some good experiences with this,

I think I will try to do something similiar, probably starting in the village just helping out with English or even Football or something fun, would I have to apply for a volunteers work permit for this to protect myself and can I get one on a Non O visa.

Regards Lee

Sounds like I'll be a house husband until I become a citizen,

I assume you mean Thai citizen? Unless you are born to a Thai mother or father (in which case you are already Thai), don't get your hope up for becoming a Thai citizen without a history of working and paying taxes in Thailand.

Sophon

Only time will tell. I wont be discouraged and there are always loop holes.

Of course you can work - but you must do so with a work permit and according to the laws of Thailand - just as would be the case in any other country of the world. There are thousands of foreign husbands supporting there families here and doing so legally. It may not always be an easy path; but the path is there.

A foreign person in the UK on a spouse visa(such as my wife) can get a job in any profession without a work permit, her visa allows her to work regardless of what job. If I get a job in Thailand it would be to do farming, but as you explained previously this occupation would not qualify for a work permit

Think you may need a reality check!

" I would possibly like to do some labouring for a local builders."

How much do you think building labourers get paid in Thailand?

Same goes for most other occupations.

Ginkas,

I think you need to keep your opions to yourself! I would the labouring for free, not everything is about money.

Opinions

Think you may need a reality check!

" I would possibly like to do some labouring for a local builders."

How much do you think building labourers get paid in Thailand?

Same goes for most other occupations.

Ginkas,

I think you need to keep your opions to yourself! I would the labouring for free, not everything is about money.

Dont know who told you this, it is true you can work on a non-O, but you must also have a work permit to do any type of work, does not matter if you are getting paid or not. Also, wanting to work in construction is prohibited work.

it does not matter what your wife can or cant not do in the UK, this is Thailand with different rules. Ex-pats are prohibited from doing many types of jobs. Farming, construction work are on the list. For teaching you can do this, but there must be a company that can hire you and to provide the work permit. As stated the company need to have registered capital of minimum 2 million baht and have 4 Thai employees. I don't know where mjnaus got the info on only needing 2 never heard of this. i have owned and operated two companies here in Thailand and have always had to have minimum 4 employees. Yes, they will let you slide for a little while on the employees when first starting, but not to the extent of 2 years, 6 months but don't expect that to be any longer.

Please do your home work on this and check with ministry of labor about the rules for work permit, don't take what I'm telling you and what anyone else tells you to be the 100% truth. The consequences for working without a work permit is fines and jail time and possible deportation. your wife and other Thai's may tell you this is their country they know what is needed, again don't listen and find out for yourself, many Thais believe they know when they don't. Just trying to give you helpful advise.

I do like the idea of the computer shop they always look busy, but there are regulations on this to as for the hours being open and students etc. So again please make sure you know everything yourself and don't rely on others to provide the information. The Thai saying " mai pen rai" does not work when the govt is looking to crack down on things. Be careful with the farming, you get someone upset with you and they report you are doing farming work does not matter if it's in your wife's name or not, you will have problems.

Good Luck to you!!!

Thanks for the heads up,

this is the reason why I posted, as I am suspicios of people in the village getting jealous, so I need to know what I can and cant do according to the rules of my visa.

Sounds like I'll be a house husband until I become a citizen, Im sure I will be able to go and hunt frogs at night as I need to eat, surely they cant prohibit this, LOL.

Still cannot get my head round, not being allowed to get a job, this is ridicules, the fact that I am the man of the house I have two children to feed and a wife to keep happy and according to the rules of the visa I am the supporting person, sorry but this is an unenlightened rule and out and out stupidity. I will definatley be getting legal advice regarding this (watch this space).

Regards Lee

Thanks for the Imput,

I know what I will do know, I will apply for a Non O single entry which will be valid for 90 days, then before this expires I will get this extended at the Immigration for a full year(with no border runs just address reporting every 90 days) doing it this way I wont do any border runs.

Thanks everyone