Arkady

11 hours ago, worgeordie said:

I suspect she knew exactly what was happening and that is why she did not go in the room.

why could she not cook and look after the husband herself,and met the "cook" on Facebook,

maybe she was after more than a cook. RIP Belgium guy.

regards Worgeordie

Certainly seems suspicious to hire an ex monk she met on FB as a cook. Most people would hire a maid who cooks, cleans and does laundry.

9 hours ago, qualtrough said:

I am in the process of waiting for the MOI interview. To speed up the citizenship process I changed my yellow book to the address of a relative living in Bangkok. This was at the suggestion of the SB people. Do the people living at the yellow book address there need to notify people that I am living there? My wife and I have never done that in 25 years. I would hate to get tripped up by something like that. Nobody mentioned or asked for that during my application process to date. If so, it is quite an imposition on those people if they have to file a report every so often.

Immigration requires these reports from the owner of the property where you physically reside. So, if you never even spend a night there, it should not be necessary. It is unlikely that there would ever be any coordination between Immigration and the district offices that issue the books to check that people in yellow books have been reported and they might have been properly reported as living somewhere else anyway. I think Immigration is only interested in substance over form here. So I wouldn’t worry about it.

The whole system of having a tabien baan book to confirm the address that is on your smart card ID where everyone knows you probably don’t live is utterly pointless and antiquated. Bit at least it is better than the ridiculous British system of demanding original hard copy bank statements or utility bills when these are now mainly no longer produced in hard copy.

42 minutes ago, KevT said:

Do you have to have a work permit for 100% of the days out of the year? Say, for example, a teacher changes school, and for 3 days he doesn't have a work permit (or another similar situation that would result in a few days without a WP). Would that invalidate the WP status for the year (having to restart from scratch)? How does this work? 

Technically that could be used as an excuse to invalidate an application but, in practice, I have never heard of anyone being turned down for a gap of a few days which is often impossible to avoid, however hard one tries. 

Following Garry's post I visited SB's website and noticed that all the details to do with applying for citizenship, including the guidelines have been taken taken down.  All that is left is an Excel file listing the required documents in unspellchecked English, e.g. "Twelve (12) Photohraps, 2x2.5". The file is named in English "Tasks to acquire Thai nationality" in the website and upon saving it the name appears as "คำแนะนำ-ภาษาอังกฤษ" or "Guidelines - English", implying that it is taken from a larger guidelines file that is not posted in its entirety.

Most interestingly, the document that was item 17 in the 2009 list is omitted from the current list.  That is "17. Affidavit from applicant’s embassy or consulate in Thailand that demonstrates the applicant’s intention to renounce his current nationality when his application for Thai nationality is approved." Is there any significance to this omission I wonder, or was it just another error along with the copious spelling mistakes that indicate particularly slipshod work?  All the other points are effectively the same as the previous list with some slight differences in wording and enumeration.

BTW a house registration book has always been required to apply for nationality. If you are a permanent resident, it is a blue book. Otherwise it is a yellow book.

On 4/11/2019 at 9:32 AM, Big Guns said:

I've been a Thai citizen for 1 and a half years now and my biggest frustration occurred yesterday. I wonder if anyone more knowledgeable has any useful suggestions. I was informed by Rayong tax department that they no longer issue cheques for tax rebates and I had to register for prompt pay. I used my SCB App and it wouldn't let me register. I trotted along to my SCB branch to be told that my account stated I had a British passport (despite the fact I had made an appointment at that branch and changed the status 3 months ago). They told me to return the next day which I did and brought my doccumentation to show I was a Thai national and the Royal Gazette publication. I sat in the bank for an hour. Finally I received a phone call from a person at SCB to say that prompt pay was for Thai people only and I wasn't Thai I'd only changed nationality. My wife spoke to them and it transpires that because my Thai ID number starts with the number 8 and not a 3 prompt pay which was created by the BOT won't accept it. Is this just incompetence by the BOT or am I a 2nd class citizen? Any suggestions would be welcomed.

That person at the bank should have been asked to explain what is the legal difference between Thai people and those who have merely changed their nationality to Thai, supporting their argument with citations from the constitution and Nationality Act.

1 hour ago, Big Guns said:

After doing some research & talking to a friend who is a bank exec it turns out the issue isn't with BOT. SCB are misinforming me. In fact the Thai ID card can start with the digits 1-9 SCB simply haven't applied for number 8 for their Promptpay (which naturalised Thai citizens have) & there would be a cost involved with changing it. I'll try Kasikorn next week as I have an account there.

I am sure there that Promptpay is available to all Thai ID cards with no additional cost to the bank due to the ID card prefixes.  It is also available to foreigners.  If there really is a cost, it can't be significant and they should pay it.  At other banks you can sign up without fuss for Promptpay online or at ATM machines, regardless of ID card prefix.  

It’s decidedly odd the PM, now in a caretaker role, where he is not expected to make any major changes to commit the next government, felt the situation was serious enough to use Section 44, a provision hanging over from the temporary 2014 constitution, to sack a senior police officer, who appeared to be virtually running the force. It will be interesting to see what eventuates.

16 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Does anyone know of General Anupong remains as the Minister of Interior?

 

Your roughly the same time as me from since paperwork was sent. I was told last March.

However, I'm only 16 months since application. Just shows there are no hard and fast times.

 

 

Gen Anuphong is still interior minister, although technically in caretaker status following the election. In past that has sometimes meant that minister’s didn’t sign anything but this government doesn’t seem to feel constraints of that type.

On 2/12/2019 at 5:59 PM, GarryP said:

I think you will find that the majority of people on this thread who applied for citizenship did it themselves without the need for a lawyer. Most of the documents you will need have to be obtained yourself anyway- the lawyer can't do it for you.  Also, there are not that many lawyers who know the process and most are as much in the dark as you are (regardless of their claims otherwise). That is, you end up paying a lot of money but benefit very little from it. If you are not strong in spoken Thai, you could get your wife to go along with you and then get the information in a face to face meeting with the SB officers. 

I just heard from someone who dumped a tidy sum into a lawyer's pocket to process his application, against the advice of myself and others.  The lawyer claimed to have inside connections and that he would be passing on some of it to those who could get things done quicker etc.  But from what he says the lawyer's knowledge of the process seems a bit spotty and maybe dangerously misleading in some areas.  I will not be surprised to hear that down the track the lawyer has come back to the well for more cash, claiming that a special opportunity opened up to fast track selected applicants.  That happened with PR a few years back when lawyers were tipped off in advance that their clients were soon to be approved and tapped them for another couple of hundred thou in "fast track" fees.  Later they found out that a large batch had been approved including those who had not used lawyers or attempted to pay any bribes.  

Like the masked guy standing at the back with an M4 assault rifle.  Best not to take chances with journalists at press conferences.

I once saw a cop try to tackle a biker who was u-turning on Sathorn Road at night to evade a road block. The cop actually put himself in serious harms way by valiantly attempting a flying tackle at the bike as it turned. But he mistimed it and hurt himself badly missing the bike completely and landing heavily on the road with his gun skittering out of his holster sending sparks across the road.  At first when I heard the clatter and saw the sparks I thought someone had opened fire.  The biker got away and must have had a heroic tale to tell his buddies, while the cop must have had some nasty scrapes and bruises, not to mention a badly dinged up gun. These days they station cops in the shadows as backstops to get the escapees like the "volunteer" in this story. 

Whatever the provocation, which seems rather mild in this case, there is no justification for the attempted murder of a toddler.  He could end up brain damaged from this brutal assault, have detached retinas or God knows what else. 

While hotels are or should be set up to do this reporting, it can pose a serious problem to landlords renting out apartments to foreigners, if they really have to report to Immigrant every time their tenant returns to Thailand from an overseas trip.

If you own your own condo, do you have to report yourself?

A friend worked at the US consulate in Frankfurt and said his grade didn't get full diplomatic immunity for some reason, even though he was a state department hired US diplomat, not locally engaged staff.  One of his colleagues with the same status was arrested by the German police for drunk driving and taken to the police station. He was released without charge when they established he was indeed consular staff but the police reported the incident to the consul-general. The consul-general summarily dismissed him for cause from the foreign service and put him on the next flight back to the US the following day. His personal effects were packed up from his residence and sent on after him.  US diplomats are warned that they will be summarily dismissed for drunken driving offences anywhere in the world. Now they also have random drug tests with the same penalty for anyone testing positive. 

In Thailand, however, I don't the police would trouble anyone driving a car with diplo plates.

Nonsense post deleted.

There is something strange about the Phya Thai district office. I think they hate foreigners. I went there to get married with my Thai wife with all documents correct but they claimed I needed the affirmation of freedom to marry which was definitely not the case because I was a permanent resident. I started arguing with the head of registrations and he suddenly announced that my alien book must be forged because my 13 digit ID number started with 8- which he claimed was reserved for Chinese only (actually it is the prefix for all PRs of whatever nationality). I was so irritated by this absurd assertion that I uncharacteristically lost my cool and told him it was a shame for the people in Phya Thai that they had a head of registrations that was utterly ignorant of the regulations he was supposed to be applying. Then we beat a hasty retreat before he could call the BiB and went to the Sathorn district office where we were welcomed with open arms and married without the affirmation.

Definitely you do not need a WP, proof of income or any other such nonsense. When we were married at Sathorn the couple in front of us were both Chinese tourists on a wedding tour who obviously did not have WPs. Neither could speak a word of Thai but they managed everything through an interpreter and the officials were clearly pleased to have them there.

Once you have been married for 3 years (or 1 year, if you already have a Thai child together), you will be eligible to apply for Thai citizenship, if you are living in Thailand. It  is relatively easy for foreign wives of Thai citizens. You don’t need to be working. It is all based on your husband’s occupation and income and the bar is quite low.

On 3/5/2019 at 9:23 PM, Cryingdick said:

 

It actually isn't that much in those fields. Most the foreign IT guys in my husband's office were on around 500,000 a month. These aren't the kind of people that take lower rates because the cost of street food makes up for it. 

 

Now that we have that out of the way let's bring on the rest of the posts from the retired geezers on 40,000 a month pensions saying how they should have some easier visa. 

 

Also plenty of people on these salaries do some freelancing. They tend to be a bit more ambitious. 

 

 

An issue that crops up quite often for senior expats is being asked to be on the board of a subsidiary or affiliated company in addition to their regular job. Many have been caught out for not having these additional jobs added to their work permits, even though it is not too difficult to do. Some may also appreciate their dependents being able to work without WPs although it is unclear whether this is only for one year out of the four years or one year renewable. Some expat wives would like to work but may not qualify for a WP.  Kids can do intern jobs, if they don't need a WP.

This is all very limited in scope but the fact that Thailand can allow foreigners, other than diplomats, UN or World Bank personnel work without WPs for the first time since the early 70s without fearing that the heavens will fall, is historic in and of itself.  Perhaps, if they feel this hasn't led to chaos and revolution, they will relax things even further, e.g. letting people work without pay for NGOs without WPs or even let retirees do part time work.

13 hours ago, bowerboy said:

Genuine question;

 

Is the most likely outcome a squabbling coalition government with Prayut as PM?

 

He will get torn to shreds and it will be very highly amusing.

 

i have been impressed with the Thai politicians comments and actions against Prayut and without guns to back him up he seems totally out of his depth.

 

So is that assumption correct? Squabbling coalition with Prayut as PM?

Most commentators seem to think this is the most likely scenario. The Senate can vote to elect a PM and on bills regarded as pertinent to national reform but not in no confidence debates.  Therefore a government that doesn't have a majority in the lower house is going to have problems in addition to the normal problems of coalitions.

5 hours ago, KevT said:

For PR, are there any renewal of documents, going to immigration, etc. every x years? If you don't leave Thailand, is there anything important you have to do?

 

Also, and most importantly, other than forgetting/going past the re-entry stamp date (and a criminal record) mentioned earlier, are there any other situations which would result in your PR being revoked?

Trying to re-enter the Kingdom without a valid re-entry visa is the only reason for automatic revocation provided for in the Immigration Act.  Anything else needs to go to the Immigration Commission, the committee with representatives from various government agencies, that approves PR.  That makes it a serious issue, so it is unlikely that anyone would have their PR revoked by the committee, other than if ordered by a court for a serious criminal offence.  The Yingluck goverment tried to revoke the PR of the anti-red shirt activist Sathish Seghal but found it was not as straightforward as they first imagined.  So they backed down.