Dan5

16 hours ago, MarcelV said:

I have lived and worked in Thailand for over 5 months now, but I still don't have a work permit. This means I cannot open a bank account, legally own a motorbike or get a driver license. It sucks but I have to deal with it. Every month I simply receive my pay check in cash. My international license will expire next month however, so perhaps I need to take the full course of driving lessons, exam etc. Sucks.

9 minutes ago, Oishii said:

 

You do not require a work permit to open a bank account, own a motorcycle or to get a driving license.

I went into Bangkok Bank today and asked for a second bank account. I was told that I needed a document from the embassy (a proof of address I think) to open an account. I've never run into this before and I have 3 bank accounts at 3 different banks, nor have I heard of this. I asked to speak to the branch manager and she said the same thing. Its always possible given what I know about Thai bank accounts that I could just open it at another branch. But given the branch manager told me this, not likely. 

Does anyone know anything about this?  Is it a new Bangkok bank policy. A new regulation applying to all banks?

Never aware of anyone being bothered by it at all, including my Thai friends who would have very likely said something if they thought it was a problem. Not to complain, but to warn me.

Really early on my Thai wife said since I'm a farang, I don't need to wear black.

1 hour ago, wgdanson said:

Who uses IE these days? Windows 10 doesn't, you get Edge. Just back from Phitsanulok Immigration to do 90 days. In and out within 5 minutes. Thanks

I used IE do the 90 day report about 30 days ago on Windows 10. You don't see IE by default on Windows 10, but it is there. You just have to search for it.

And based on my experience only IE works these days. I used to be able to use the IE Chrome add on. But last time the only thing that would work was IE.

Been here for many years. Still have USA bank accounts credit cards, etc, but no physical address there. Never been a problem. And I know people who have started businesses back there without having to go back or have a real address there. . Actually that's pretty common these days. Have a Thai driver's license. Don't see why I couldn't use that if I visited the USA. Though I don't know. Haven't been back there and have no plans to visit there. But I really don't think you have anything  to worry about.

23 hours ago, ricku said:

I smoke occasionally, like 2 - 3 joints per month. You say that my info is false, but according to websites like TheCannabist, It could take more than three months before a person has cleared all the THC from his/her system.

There is an article about it right here:
http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/03/09/how-long-does-weed-stay-in-your-system/48677/

Well, thanks for the input and warnings (everyone), I'll just skip smoking for a few months before I head to Thailand. That's the beauty of this thing, it really never gets addictive. At least if you don't chain-smoke it.

Yeah, I know that the risk of getting caught is extremely low, but I don't want to take any chances in that country.

Wow!! Talk about cautious. The chances are extremely low and all you would have to do anyway is pay a fine. How many sets of belts and suspenders do you wear?

I've never heard anything to indicate it is even being considered. Anythings possible I suppose. Maybe they'll get rid of $100 bills to. Fantasy.

5 hours ago, p_brownstone said:

From your Post I assume that your friends' daughter was born in Thailand, visited U.K. using her Thai Passport, and is now back in Thailand (returning on her Thai Passport) and now has both Thai and British Passports?

 

There will be no problem exiting Thailand on her next trip; as Lopburi3 briefly explains the procedure is to show both Passports at airline Check-in in Thailand - simply to prove to the airline that she has the right to enter the U.K. without a Visa in her Thai Passport. 

 

At Immigration on exit from Thailand just show the Thai Passport. Do NOT show both Passports by the way - Thailand has no problem with Dual Nationality but some junior Immigration Officers may not be conversant with the legislation (or, to be more precise, the lack of legislation against Dual Nationality). However on her first exit from Thailand it may be helpful to take her Thai Birth Certificate too, to show Immigration that she was born here, so obviously that is why she has no "Entry to Thailand" Stamp in her Thai Passport.

 

(Another Note: do not worry that Thai Immigration may question why she has no British Visa in her Thai Passport: Immigration does not look for that, nor does it care; their only role is to ascertain that the person exiting Thailand was legally in the Country and complied with the Thai Immigration legislation re. Visas, potential Overstay etc. etc.. As a Thai born Thai National it is clearly self-evident that her stay in Thailand was completely legal.)

 

She may also be asked to show both Passports at Airline Boarding Gate - again simply to re-assure the airline that she has the right to enter the U.K..

 

After that, enter U.K. on the British Passport and, on return to Thailand, she should just show the Thai Passport at Thai Immigration; in fact Suwannaphumi Airport (and maybe Don Muang too - I'm not sure) now have Passport Scanners which a Thai National - like your friends' daughter - can use to bypass the Immigration queue.

 

Not "hearsay" by the way, I have a Thai / British daughter, Dual National - now aged 34, born in Thailand, who regularly visits her old Dad here using this 2 Passport "switch" . All totally legal in both Countries, never a problem at either end.

 

Patrick

My understanding is that you should never mix passports like this on a trip. In this case the British passport will show that you entered the UK, but never left and the Thai passport will show that you never left Thailand but you entered. You passports are inconsistent. Can cause you problems with Immigration in the future. 

 

 

22 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Them and 2 or 3 other are the only offices reported as wanting it done.

The want the consular officers signature verified by the MFA's  department of consular affairs. It is not a verification of the letter itself.

If its not a verification of the letter, what is it a verification of? And what do you have to provide them to get it?

On 11/13/2016 at 1:48 PM, Evilbaz said:

Unless you are setting up an Amity Company Americans have no special privileges in Thailand.

They are subject to the same rules as all other nationalities w.r.t. Extensions etc.

Pattaya Expats Club have long been a good source of up-to-date information on Extensions etc.

Yes, but they vary widely from Province to Province. Of the things he listed, the only one I've ever had to show in Bangkok was a proof of income. And I've heard of other add ons in other provinces. House visits, 30 day waiting periods. I wouldn't have even known these requirements existed if I didn't read this forum and I've been here for quite a while, not a lot of retirement visa extensions.

2 hours ago, timendres said:

I originally thought that the 500,000 baht 5 year Elite Thai Visa was expensive.

But when I considered that I spend almost 60,000 baht per year dealing with a Visa and Work Permit, and the additional hassle involved with those, it started to look a lot more reasonable.

I am over 50, so it would make more sense to put 800,000 in the bank for a retirement visa, and get the money back later.

But for someone under 50, $2,900USD per year is not that much, and they should be able to bank that much income in any given month.

Well I'm pretty certain you need a business visa and work permit to work in Thailand. So the Elite wouldn't do you any good anyway. And the costs associated with maintaining a retirement or marriage visa are pretty low.

I'm pretty certain I'm not black listed and don't know why I ever would be. But this post is of interest to me just because the black listing seems to be something you can never be sure about unless you get turned away on entry. I remember a story earlier this year about a British guy with dual citizenship. He generally used his Thai passport and had no problem. Then one trip he used his British passport and was detained by immigration in the immigration jail. It turned out that someone he had accused of plagiarism ( and the person was even convicted of it) apparently got him black listed. Don't know how it all turned out. But it sounds like if you had a problem with the wrong person, you could be black listed and not even know it. 

2 minutes ago, Dan5 said:

I think you are vastly over thinking this.  I 've never heard of and can't imagine immigration wanting to go over your finances in the USA. They want to know that you have an income of at least 65,000 Baht/month coming into Thailand. They want you to be bringing money into Thailand.

And technically bringing it into Thailand isn't even required. But if they did get concerned and wanted to check things, money coming into Thailand is likely what they'd want to see. But as far as I know and based on my own experience living here, its very rare for them to want anything more than the basic 800,00 Baht in a bank account or a proof of income from the embassy.

1 hour ago, gk10002000 said:

If only it were that simple.  As others have said, the Thais historically expected some sort of monthly pension, retirement payout.  In my case, I have a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA and a regular Brokerage account.  I get basically 48,000 a year in dividends and interest total across all three accounts.   Now since some of my stocks pay quarterly dividends, I do NOT get the same amount every month.  I plan to to average out the 48k over 12 months and assert that I get $4k a month.  Technically that could be interpreted as not quite true given the wording of the US embassy affidavit form.  Now my Roth IRA earnings are tax free.  My Traditional IRA dividends and interest will be taxable.  So right there is an issue, because just getting some money doesn't account for the end of the year taxation that has to be done.  Most of the dividends and interest in ny regular brokerage account are tax free since by design I keep those monies invested in tax free municipal bonds and funds.  Note that I do not plan to withdraw any principal or balance, which as others have posted some may intend to use that as "income".  Now having said that, if one did take money out of their traditional IRA it in general would be taxable, or at least reported as taxable income, and then depending on your tax situation, deductions, capital losses, etc.  you might get to keep, you might a tax refund, or you may owe in taxes!   I don't want to tell the Thais or the US embassy how to account for things.  There are so many ways and variations either considering taxes or not considering taxes.  

 

 All you can do is bring your documentation, make a cogent argument and hope for the best.  Etrade, my primary brokerage has confirmed they will issue me a letter asserting that as of a certain date, my estimated income from dividends, interest, etc. as calculated from their income estimator is xxxxx.  And of course I can print out the output of the income estimator itself if more details are needed.   The calculator lists the stocks, bonds, shares, etc, and estimated income for every month, and the total for the entire year is summed up at the end.  It really is a nice simple feature of their site

I think you are vastly over thinking this.  I 've never heard of and can't imagine immigration wanting to go over your finances in the USA. They want to know that you have an income of at least 65,000 Baht/month coming into Thailand. They want you to be bringing money into Thailand.

I had the same problem a few days ago. The solution (recommended by MIcrosoft) was do disable all my add ons in IE. Disable the add ons, restart IE and I was able to finish my online report

24 minutes ago, Dan5 said:

But at least IE fails quickly Should just take a minute or less to try every now and then until my time runs out.

Success. Turns out there are numerous reports to Microsoft about CAPTCHA not working on IE 11. Their recommendation. Disable all add-ons and restart IE. That did it. Successfully submitted. 

So basically IE is the only browser that will work right now. And you have to disable all add-ons in order to get CAPTCHA to work.
 

3 minutes ago, Dan5 said:

Looks like going in in person would have saved time. I've already spent nearly as much time trying to get the online reporting working as it would have taken to just drive out to immigration and wait for my number

But at least IE fails quickly Should just take a minute or less to try every now and then until my time runs out.

4 minutes ago, Dan5 said:

Since all else failed, I tried IE on Windows 10. At first it looked good. The fill in was much faster. But then I got to CAPTCHA. It says to reload it, but it won't reload. CAPTCHA works on Chrome on Mac (but when I submit, I just get a blank window, but not on Chrome on Windows 10, nor IE  on Windows or on Safari on Mac. If its not one thing, its another. Running out of time. May just have to go in in person.

Looks like going in in person would have saved time. I've already spent nearly as much time trying to get the online reporting working as it would have taken to just drive out to immigration and wait for my number

58 minutes ago, Dan5 said:

I've been successful in doing the online report in the past using both Chrome with the IE extension and Safari. But I've been trying over and over again for almost 24 hours. With Safari and Chrome on my Mac and Chrome on Windows 10. Spent a lot of time. Very slow to fill in. Then when I submit, if its successful at all it sends me to a blank page.

 

Online reporting seems to be broken now. I don't know how to report this to immigration and I suspect it would be just more wasted time.

Since all else failed, I tried IE on Windows 10. At first it looked good. The fill in was much faster. But then I got to CAPTCHA. It says to reload it, but it won't reload. CAPTCHA works on Chrome on Mac (but when I submit, I just get a blank window, but not on Chrome on Windows 10, nor IE  on Windows or on Safari on Mac. If its not one thing, its another. Running out of time. May just have to go in in person.

I've been successful in doing the online report in the past using both Chrome with the IE extension and Safari. But I've been trying over and over again for almost 24 hours. With Safari and Chrome on my Mac and Chrome on Windows 10. Spent a lot of time. Very slow to fill in. Then when I submit, if its successful at all it sends me to a blank page.

Online reporting seems to be broken now. I don't know how to report this to immigration and I suspect it would be just more wasted time.

A reason I like living in Bangkok. They seem to just follow the immigration law without making up extra rules.

A lot of this stuff in the provinces (outside of Bangkok)  seems to be arbitrary. Should probably just pay the 1000 baht and be done with it. Its annoying, but what the ..

1000 Baht? I don't think it would be worth arguing about. I'd be more concerned about why they want to inspect your house. What is the purpose of the inspection. I'm been living in Thailand a long time and this is the first I've heard of a house inspection. I assume there in nothing in the immigration laws about it. Who knows maybe its just about the 1000 Baht.,

Well it varies from office to office and I think from time to time. But I always have my agent do the retirement  extension in Bangkok and he's always told me I should get the income affidavit within a week of the extension.