richard_smith237

Thailand sets up the system in such a way and allows the system to played.... people play it, fair enough. Many people do, they switch visas, border hop, plan extensions... its just the way Thailand makes some people ‘dance’ through their system. There’s nothing wrong with that... This lady most certainly is abusing the ‘Ed Visa’ and Thailand also knows that. Immigration officers will mostly likely be taking their cut and also ‘gaming the system’. But... When questioned, caught or refused entry etc... its all part of the same game. To avoid this, meet the specific requirements. In this case: IF the a person under 50 wants to stay long term here without working, then its either get married to a Thai or get a Thai Elite Visa.

No... She did not brake any Immigration rules which is why they let her in. But, she was profiled and thats why the questioned her to check she wasn’t breaking any rules. She wasn’t punished, she was questioned, perhaps too firmly for the liking of some people, but that is a technique to apply pressure. The Visa was not denied - she was permitted entry and is now continuing to play the game as she (and her sponsor) had planned it through out. Well Played I’d say. The only criticism of all of this that I have is the butt-hurtness of the Op in his belief that this lady should never have been questioned or was not treated nicely. The Op seems to think immigration are a welcoming committee and does not appear to know what the job of an immigration officer is.

Agree... Nothing is quite clear cut in Thailand. They had rules with no back to back exemptions, no more than 3 visa exempts in 180 days, no more than 3 tourist visas in 180 days and so forth. A lot of people were caught out... This happens in the UK... ‘on the balance of probabilities’.... I know this is not the UK, but on the balance of probabilities this lady was not going to travel back at the end of her 30 day extension, but that doesn’t mean she was breaking any immigration law. Though is ‘playing the system’ but the system is set up in such a way that it can be easily played. Thats part of Immigration questioning - they try to make the subject feel pressured so they crack and own up to whatever it is they are up to. They clearly believed they were correct about the ‘fake ticket’ and pushed that avenue of questioning until proven wrong. In these cases it would be simpler to allow freedom of movement of Asean nationals, but the huge economic disparity does not permit this freedom of movement that would see excess numbers of foreign workers in Thailand displacing the Thai jobs - preventing this is one of the primary rolls of immigration (protecting the Thai workforce). Where a poor female has a sponsor the waters become muddied... It can be proven she’s not here for work, then what visa ? perpetual Tourist ?... perhaps this is where a long term visa could come into play for someone who plans on being in Thailand for a number of years without working, but the options are limited... The long term visa is the Elite Visa of course, but I very much doubt any sponsor is keen to make that sort of financial commitment in similar circumstances.

I'm confused. Are you saying one needs to speak Thai in order to "bed" hi-so career women? I think he may have just assumed this is such a remote possibility the idea is off his radar !!!

Or over seas educated women of equal socio-economic status....

She may or may not have intended to use her return at the point Immigration let her in. Following advice from local immigration, she decided to go ahead with a Non Ed visa. It may or may not have been a perfectly reasonable change of mind. Regardless, I do not see that she is committing any immigration offence. From the unfolding of the story is very clear that there was no intention of using the return ticket in departing in 30 days - it was just insurance, which worked - well played. This lady was profiled accurately by Immigration (and posters on this thread drew the same conclusions) - she had her ducks in a row and stuck to her story.

They eventually let her in because she was a strong character who stood up for herself. Based on my experience of young Asian women, I suspect 80% or so would have buckled to the pressure and departed in tears. I agree... She was permitted entry because she held firm and confirmed that her return ticket was valid. Immigration made her confirm that she will depart on said ticket - Why ?.... because both immigration and the girl know that this was just a ’throw-away’ ticket and that she intended to stay here longer with more covid extensions or whatever extensions she can obtain. There is no judgement on that - the immigration is a game to be played and lots of people find creative ways to stay here longer. I don't blame them, Thailand is a nice place to be. It's a far nicer place for a young lady with a sponsor to be in than back in the Philippines with no money and two children to feed. So.. good on her, she’s playing the game and succeeded.... But we shouldn’t get angry at Immigration for also playing by their rules... Their job is to profile such people. IF we must find flaws in the system, find flaws in the laws themselves - why not just let people in for 1 year at a time ???

Are you changing your tune to... Catch others, but not my friends GF ???

Philippine Citizens are allowed a 30 Day Visa Exempt entry in Thailand. They must have a return ticket. Anyone who spends a long time in Thailand on various visas, Education Visa, Tourist Visa’s, repeated Visa Exempt arrivals and yes returning recently after spending a long time on a Covid extension are going to raise eyebrows - especially if that person is young, of working age from a country who’s nationals traditionally earn less than in Thailand. Immigration suspected her of working here - they couldn’t prove that. So they profiled her, they questioned her, applied pressure, accused her of having a *fake ticket etc (as many are) - the ticket wasn’t fake so they let her in. You mean, the Immigration officers have nothing better to do than their jobs ??? Perhaps you should contact immigration each time you have a friend who is arriving and ask them not to do their jobs because you don’t like the way they profile and question some people... *On other threads there are comments about travellers entering Thailand Visa exempt on ‘fake onward tickets’... bought through websites. So that this was suspect of your ‘friends’ GF is not by any means unfair, wrong or terrible judgment.

You can do it via most insurance companies/agents online. As the car is over 7 years old, it needed to be inspected before it could be taxed. The tax needs to be shown to purchase the Por Ror Bor. Effectively, the Por Ror Bor and Tax are obtained together. ---- Online works for vehicles younger than 7 years. In this case the Por Ror Bor can be purchased along with the Tax. OR, the Insurance broker can do all when renewing 1st Class insurance.

Its not my ‘cloak and dagger’ theory... Its that presented by some of the guys who have pointed out their significant others don’t want them to know Thai, as pointed out by LaosLover (quote below). Regarding throwing out Thai phrases - I have great fun throwing out the most horrific and offensive swearwords in front of or even at my friends Wives.... who the gasp in shock and either punch me or punch their husband.... all rather amusing all around (no offence or seriousness taken by anyone, we’ve all known each other for years, holidayed together etc)...

Try ‘Crisps’ !!!.... equally so there are Thai words and tongue twisters that many Westerners struggle with.... Get an ‘unfamiliar’ foreigner to try and say ‘money’ (in Thai - Ngien) correctly...

That is the consensus from guys who have no idea that their significant other has no respect for them whatsoever and wants to talk about them behind their back. It's not true of those in relationships built on mutual respect and in those relationships solid communication is key. The near-universal ‘don’t bother’ response could be due to the demographic of those answering, retirees etc who just don’t want the hassle of learning a new language. The near-universal ‘don’t bother’ response is readily interpreted as laziness, but of course, no one wants to admit they’re lazy.

Agreed.... it was touched upon how a 32 year old single female from the Philippines with repeated long term visits to Thailand would be profiled by immigration and questioned.... even more so when it turns out the lady in question was staying with a 77 year old man who paid for everything..... But... We can’t discuss what immigration were 'probably' thinking and why the extra effort to question the lady was made because someone people became offended so the comments were removed.

That was merely the police and insurance guy following the path of least resistance... You weren’t really blamed, it was just easier for everyone involved to have your insurance pay for your car rather than chase up an uninsured poor person who’s not going to be able to afford to pay for the damage anyway. I’ve been in a similar situation with an uninsured vehicle, but refused to accept blame for the other vehicle too, only accepting 50/50 so my insurance would pay for my car. The other guy was feigning injury so I didn’t want there to be any doubt about my responsibility towards him or have to fight off any compensation claims. The other guy was ultimately shouted out of the police station !!...

Yes... impatience is one facet of this issue. The other is of course, that every time there is a dog in the road (and its not uncommon), as you slow down and approach the ‘dog moves off’.... in this case the dog didn’t move off, the driver made a horrible mistake. But.. this is not as if the driver was speeding down the road, flying over speed bumps and hit a dog. The dog was lying in the muddle of the road and didn’t move out of the way when usually they do because dogs which are lying in the road are usually far more street-wise.

Thats why I gave up on Bolt... They’re either too far away or just don’t move and they wait until I cancel. That said, I’ve had that with Grab a couple of times... driver accepts the ride... we play a waiting game, then driver calls me up to ask me to cancel... I ask why he accepted the ride, he says he has to accept so many rides if he signs on as available or looses his contact with Grab... but doesn’t want to take my ride... It get it, but thats kind of the point of Grab... the guarantee of good service !!!... The issue with that is that I get charged a cancellation fee until I complain that the driver called up and asked me to cancel !!!... Is it easier than walking to the street and flagging 5 taxis down and have them all say now... No, getting d1cked around by a driver who plays that game isn’t... but its fairly rare compared the the amount of times I’m rejected on the street by a flag-fall taxi.... (probably because of the time and area I’m in).... First world problems !!!..... taxi’s in general in Bangkok are still much much better than any other city in Thailand... and Grab just makes it a lot more convenient when not in an area with a lot of passing taxis.

Do you live in Bangkok ?????? Privacy works both ways. Of course, you’d never leave a bag or a phone in a taxi... never !!... but... ok ok.. not you, never !!!... I thought the same... until I left a good bottle of Whisky in a Grab.... called him up a few mins later and he came back... ..... or if your taxi driver decided to be a complete and utter pr!ck... or the passenger did... Both taxi drive and passenger are protected because both are known to grab, its safer and behaviour is better assured. Are you really worried about a 50 baht taxi transaction being monitored by the government.... me thinks you over egg your importance pudding !!!! they, whoever is following you, is not going to take your guns, don’t worry !!! Give them a cash tip then !!!..... not a tricky solution that. Besides... the driver who ‘comes into my moobaan’ to pick me up gets the fare they otherwise wouldn’t !!... win for them I’d say, and me.... Additionally, the service is more costly... by about how much... 30-40% !!!... the drivers get their rate. But... what about before that?... there was a call centre to call up and they’d radio out for a taxi... it'd cost 20 baht surcharge but was a pain in the backside to use...

Huh??..... Ok, I get the logic... and from your (sensible) perspective the lights don’t make sense to a newbie. Illuminated Red light = available.... All taxi’s used to have red lights when available. Illuminated Green light = available.... a new ‘honest company’ was set up that uses ‘green lights’. This ‘green light’ was to highlight that the driver would not cheat or over charge your, would not refuse your fare / say no to you etc... this was following a lot of negative taxi publicity a few years back. NO light means the taxi is not available.

so, they are doing you a favor... No... No favour whatsoever as I know exactly where I am going and the best route to take. by everywhere, you mean everywhere in Bkk? I have lived in places with no traffic other than an occasional stop light... Back-end of Nakhon nowhere with only a half-cut Somchai to give you a lift doesn’t count... on a thread discussing taxi’s !... ....Traffic is an issue in the vast majority of towns in Thailand, particularly near schools at school times... and end of the month payday...

There used to be a lot of complaints about the immigration queues on arrival - it was a major issue... some stood in immigration for over and hour.... a pretty horrible experience. But... nothing to the delays and immigration queues departing some UK airports in the summer... ....those security lines are utterly horrific and made all the worse as people are attempting travel with only carry-on luggage to avoid baggage fees. Airlines need to stop this ‘baggage fee’ and allow passengers check-in baggage just so easing of the travel through the airport is easier... Nearly all of the time departing and arriving in Suvarnabumi is simple and hassle free... I’m travelling through BKK about 16 times per year....

Depends if there was fish on the menu and especially IF the question is within context or completely out of the blue... But I get your point.... Sometimes I am utterly flummoxed by my Wife... ... we’re driving down he road, talking about my son’s school and my wife then asks if I enjoyed the ‘Profit roll’.... I’m totally lost... I ask... What... Profit roll ???... is he doing economics ???.. he is studying economics at school? he’s too young for that surely... ... No.. ‘profiteroles’.. why are you talking about his school, I’m asking if you liked last nights desert ????? .... ahh.. yeah... they were lovely.. How was the tiramisu ?? ... what subject is that ?? ... Please stop on this bridge, I’m going to jump...

This reply is from one of those who ‘have had difficulty’ then ????? Defensive... Kind of predictable... Or you could explain how you don’t speak a word of Thai, but live in an area of central Bangkok where 99% of those around speak English and the absence of Thai knowledge impacts you very little.. Or... do you want to have a little brag ?

So... she was returning to Thailand after a series of recent longer visits. She lives with her older boyfriend. She doesn’t work in Thailand. She was profiled... Its a (sometimes) harsh reality of travelling and younger attractive women travelling alone are often profiled more..... I see single Thai girls arriving in the UK getting asked far more questions than my Wife and I are upon entry. I travel in and out of Thailand monthly. If I was returning on a Tourist Visa or Visa exempt each time I would expect to get asked some questions as the Immigration officials ascertain if I am working here etc...

So how come waitress number 2 understood what I was saying ? I said it about five times to waitress number 1 and she didn't understand I said it once to waitress number 2 and she understood Even with such little context and just reading the writing of ‘moo deng’ its obvious exactly what is meant.... In this case its obvious that the first waitress was an utter numpty.