Dan5

9 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

I am waiting for the moment (coming soon) that they change the requirements on the retirement visa -- increasing the requirements ...  which will just end up giving agents more business.  Every time the authorities say something like we want more quality rather than quantity - it is code - we want people with more money....

Don't hold your breath.  Why do you think they are coming soon. Any real factual evidence or are you just blowing it out of your ....?  The requirements for a retirement visa have been the same for what 20, 30 years. And why would they want more business. It would just cost them more money. Amazing the rampant speculation here on all the bad things that might possibly happen. This site is just loaded with speculation and not much in facts.And a lot of chicken little's. 

10 minutes ago, KhonKaenKowboy said:

If the OP makes enough to support his family, why not just say it comes from savings abroad, or even your parents give you 40K per month, whatever.  Working online is tolerated, but then using that income earned while in Thailand to meet visa requirements would be very grey.  Elite visa doesn't give you a right to work, but would eliminate income interrogations.  An Aussie bought a coffee shop and paid 300,000 for a one year WP...even with the Thai workers, etc..The digital nomads, who are making good money don't even call themselves digital nomads (Yogi Berra).  Expertise in software is a nice earner...all the get rich schemes are BS, as well as the seminars, MLM, life coaching, personal training, and most of the affiliate marketing.  Even finding a product for a song made in China and selling on Amazon...the big players can pop you like a pimple.  And the people who paid the Ukrainians to bring them web traffic?  Google is at least two steps ahead of them, and many lost their entire investments, as Google knew the clicks were not legit.

There is no reason for him to say anything. Immigration just wants to know you have an income of at least 65j Baht/ month coming from outside of Thailand. You have to prove it every time you get an extension either through a proof of income from you embassy or having 800K Baht in a Thai bank account for the last 3 months. It doesn't matter how you make it. They're not going to audit your finances back in your home country.

As for making money on the internet. Sure most people fail, but in most case because they give up too easily. They were looking for easy, overnight success. No business is easy. It takes work and perseverance. But I personally know people who make hundreds of thousands of dollar a month on the internet and in a couple cases more than a million dollars a month. Most of them selling on Amazon and started from scratch with a .small investment, buying from China and selling on Amazon.  I don't know where you get this BS about big players popping you like a pimple.  It's just not the case. Big players are not a problem for small players. An awful lot of people make a good living on Amazon.

1 hour ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

Thai immigration authorities have already stated that as far as they are concerned -- if they are not making money locally or from local services etc. they deem the income is from foreign employment not domestic and are not interested in them.  These laws tend to be all encompassing, and it all comes down to interpretation and enforcement as to where the line is drawn.  That line might change -- and if that is the case ... currently HCM is a hot place that is a popular destination for digital nomads in the region.  

 

So it is not Thai immigration authorities that are all in a huff.... it is a bunch of foreigners that have no residency (as in permanent residency) status that are getting their panties in a knot.

1 hour ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

Thai immigration authorities have already stated that as far as they are concerned -- if they are not making money locally or from local services etc. they deem the income is from foreign employment not domestic and are not interested in them.  These laws tend to be all encompassing, and it all comes down to interpretation and enforcement as to where the line is drawn.  That line might change -- and if that is the case ... currently HCM is a hot place that is a popular destination for digital nomads in the region.  

 

So it is not Thai immigration authorities that are all in a huff.... it is a bunch of foreigners that have no residency (as in permanent residency) status that are getting their panties in a knot.

I agree. Unfortunately there are a lot of people on this forum who represent themselves as authorities when in fact they are just speculating.

I'm pretty sure it is legal to run an online business outside Thailand without a work permit. But I'd guess you'll get a debate on this forum as to whether it is technically legal.

But this bottom line is that immigration isn't going to bother you about it (except possibly if you ask them about it, you never know how any individual IO would react. I know of many people who have been doing online businesses for many years without a problem and have never heard of anyone having a problem.  It makes sense. You are not competing with Thais for the work.

Just out of curiosity, what province is this?

3 hours ago, JackThompson said:

Yes, "now" has apparently arrived.  This would be the first confirmed case of someone with a Tourist Visa + 20K+ Baht being denied entry. 

He even had an outgoing ticket, which is not necessary if you enter with a Visa - still not good enough. 

As I have been saying for a long time, Airport Immigration is a game of roulette for those with a frequent and/or longer-stay history in Thailand.  The only question is when/if this will start happening at land-borders - but at least you aren't stuck in detention, if denied there.

 

Re: New passport - as the Thai Consulate personnel will tell you to do.
Re: Hotel and Airline bookings - he had a legit airline-booking, it would seem.  It made no difference.  I am not aware if hotel-booking was even discussed - he may have a rental-contract

 

But none of this was the reason for denial.  It is based on 'suspicion' of working.  If he was from a poor-nation, that might make sense.  He isn't.  This isn't about illegal workers or 'scams' - it is about 'removing longer-staying foreigners' from Thailand before they can put down roots, marry, etc.  There are other threads discussing the increasing set of hurdles for other visa-types, so I won't go OT here with the list.

What hurdles for what visa types?

Why do you want one? What is the advantage of having a Yellow Tabien Baan?

I've been living in Bangkok and going to chaeng watttana for my retirement visa (marriage) for 8 years and have always just gone in with the paper work and left within a couple hours or less with my visa extension. I wouldn't have even been aware of home visits if it wasn't for this forum. I'm pretty sure its just in some of the other provinces. I've never heard of anyone in Bangkok getting a home visit.

13 hours ago, SiamBeast said:

It is not illegal - "work" is where you make money in a job that a Thai could have taken instead, and you won't make any money mining BTC, so it isn't work - it's mostly "donating your money to the metropolitan electricity authority" with zero ROI.

 

Unless you're gonna hire Somchai to bypass your meter, but that's illegal and I can't recommend this here.

If there is no profit in mining bit coins, why do people do it? I read an article recently about the absolutely huge amount of electricity used by all the people minting them and I wondered how profitable it was.

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You will need to formally change your address to do the report at another office. You need to do a TM28 change of address form and have proof of residence to do it. Proof of residence could be copies of the families house book and ID card of the head of household with a statement you are staying with them. After the change of address you use that address on the TM47 form.

If you will still have an address where the receipt for the 90 day report can be mailed to in Bangkok it might be easier to continue doing your reports by mail to CW.

 

Are you sure about this? I can't remember ever filing a TM28. I've lived here a long time, so possibly I've forgotten, but I don't think so.

Wow! I think you take this too seriously. I've been in Thailand for about 8 years and wouldn't have even known TM30s existed if it wasn't for this forum. Just do my 90 day reports and yearly extensions. Never had a problem.

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

I stopped reading after  "  -I've been in Thailand for 3-4 years 36-yrs old Finnish guy, first on ED-visa, " ......  

 

maybe cambodia will be ok ...

You've got a point there.

Just now, Dan5 said:

"In the morning I realize the dude is Lao Airlines ground employee, not an immigration officer. " Are you saying you were not detained by immigration, but an airline employee?? It seems that the answer to that question would mean a lot in determining your next move.

And if so, a more interesting and indeed bizarre story.

"In the morning I realize the dude is Lao Airlines ground employee, not an immigration officer. " Are you saying you were not detained by immigration, but an airline employee?? It seems that the answer to that question would mean a lot in determining your next move.

6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The difference is humanitarian verses convenience. Also the wife can work to help support the family.

Also for retirement it can be for 2 people since the spouse can get a dependent extension without financial proof.

I'm curious about the dependent extension. Never heard of it before. I've been on a retirement extension for a long time. But I have a Thai wife (also for a long time) and now we have a daughter who is a little over 1 year old. What is the benefit of a dependent extension?

27 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

My wife and I live in Thailand and my wife holds both Thai and Australian citizenship and passports 

We regularly travel overseas and as advised above she uses her Thai passport to exit or enter Thailand she never shows her Australian passport to Immigration and we have never experienced a problem

Unless it is an ASEAN country we are visiting she usually uses the Australian passport to enter as it avoids the need for a visa ( unless we both need one)

Again no problems experienced

Thank you. Advice based on a lot of experience. The best kind.

55 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Leave and enter Thailand on her Thai passport. Then enter the US or other countries on the US passport. Doing that way there should never be a problem.

On entry to Thailand never ever let them see the US passport.

Thanks. But I'm curious. Why should they never see her USA passport?

I have a related question. My daughter who is a little over 1 year old will be getting an American passport soon and since her mother is Thai, she will also have a Thai passport. There are many countries where she can enter without a visa using the USA passport so it would be preferable to use it. But from this discussion it sounds like that would present a problem when she returns since they would likely stamp her passport for a 30 day stay or whatever it is. But of course she is a Thai citizen so that would allow her to stay as long as she wants. What is the best way to handle this?

I wear size 12 1/2 (USA size) so I found it very difficult to find any shoes that large here. I think I bought 2 or 3 pair. Occasionally I would find a shoe I liked that came in my size, but that was years ago. Now I just buy through Amazon and another online site and have them shipped here through a forwarder.

1 hour ago, Jeremy50 said:

Be a man, take the ban. Why not try Laos, Cambodia etc? They appeal to the same sort of people who like Thailand.

What's a man got to do with it? And though I don't know what you mean by "the same sort of people who like Thailand", I certainly wouldn't trade either of those countries (or any other country for that matter) for Thailand. He should do what ever he thinks is in his best interest.

2 hours ago, paul18620 said:

Most times this happens and if your "ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS" then you have nothing to worry about, so don't stress out with the police check points they are all around Thailand ,this will never stop.

I must be l lucky. Been in Thailand many years and  never  had my passport checked by the police. But I don't take buses. Got stopped at check points while driving a few times, but they'd just look in the window and wave me on.

You can go to the American embassy if you are an American and get the proof of address. They don't ask for any proof just that you swear the information is correct. But it is a little expensive, $50.