Presnock

did mine online...got an email from CM immigration on Sunday telling me it was due the next day.  So I did it on Monday and

received the success immediately and then on Tuesday the new printed date for 90 days in the future.  Can't beat it as it is

a lot easier and quicker than before.  Haven't had any problems since they went to this new system.  Just remember, to use

the on line you must first register and get a immigration generated password.  Is simple too.

club rental not that expensive.  since you want twilight or maybe night golf, check those courses in the areas you will visit to see if they have night golf too.  Bangkok Golf used to have night golf, I played many a day and night rounds there!

On 7/2/2022 at 9:42 AM, pagallim said:

When you say pension letter from the UK, I take it that you mean a letter from your pension provider?   It's clear in the PIV website, such letters are not acceptable, only a letter from an embassy/consul, which of course wouldn't be the case for a UK citizen amongst others.

as several people have mentioned, anything coming from a foreign bank or organization has no meaning for the normal IO, the 12 monthly statements of foreign transfers must come from one

of the THAI banks.  Plus you would normally need to update your bank book on the day you do the extension request and some IO's ask for a copy of "all" pages of the bank book.  As I previously mentioned, I do the monthly transfers and used to provide a lot from my stateside provided which this year the young IO just handed me all those documents and only used the local bank letters.  Less than an hour total at immigration.

On 7/2/2022 at 10:18 AM, Badrabbit said:

All I can do is try with what I have, Pension provider letter proving I receive a monthly Pension(UK) Pension pay slips showing monthly pension(GBP)Thai bank statement showing Monthly deposits, if they don't accept it its not a  problem.

I do the monthly transfers and have done so since the US embassy ceased to provide a letter. and I do my extension in Chiang Mai which may or may not be different but,  used to provide immigration with tons of documentation - i.e. statement from govt retirement income, letters of advice from my bank indicating what they sent each month, letters from Bangkok Bank indicating receipt of my money each month (12 individual payments, one each and every month), letter from bank indicating that I was the sole user of such account.  This year, the immigration returned all documents from my overseas contacts, only wanting the Bangkok Bank letters.  Guess they got tired of reading all those other documents.  Bangkok Bank indicates on the twelve deposits that such are from overseas and is a must.  The only sure way for you to know exactly that they might demand, you might visit with the immigration office there and ask/show them what you have or whatever you must have to do an extension.  Good luck!

9 hours ago, Stygge said:

Well, there shall always be a thread like this going so you can always start a new one of an old subject.
As I see it the two main contenders of the westernes interest are Thailand and the Philippines with Vietnam as a coming runner up.
Since this is a thai forum most posters here favor Thailand.
The pros and cons have been extensively listed and then it´s a personal preference of what has the highest weight for the individual expat.

 

I stay mostly in Thailand, because of the ease of flying there and the better infrastructure making a short holiday easier.
But in the long run I prefer the Philippines.
The most weight for me in the long run is the language. Even if the english language understanding is exaggerated in the far out provinces it´s still so much better than in thailand. I also experience  the filipinos so much more curios and inquisitive about the world than the thais. For me it´s decisive in the long run. I find the island country the Philippines far less insular than Thailand.
I also think the Philippines in the long run has better prospects than Thailand, mainlu because it´s much younger population. It´s going to make all the difference in the future.
The food is a minor problem for mie since I think food in Thailand generally has deteriorated the latest decade. Heavy on sugar, salt and glutamat it has certainly changed for the worse.
Most of us come for the temples and beautiful churches and other cultural activities of course, but a small, deprived minority comes to find women.
If I, reluctantly, put their glasses on, I can say there is not much difference between Thailand and the Philippines, but maybe the age difference in their respective populations makes the number of younger girls more protruding in the Philippines. If this is a pro or a con I wouldn´t know. Most expats maybe seeking more age appropriate 50 year old ladies and then I definitely recommend Thailand.
Otherwiise both are south east asian countries and the similarites are predominant.

 

I spent 7 years in the Philippines and now 25 here in Thailand.  I opted to retire here due

to 1)no volcanoes erupting (yet), 2) minor earthquakes seldom only 3) no typhoons every

year.  But I speak Tagalog and Thai so the language doesn't impact me.  The food to me

is much better in Thailand.  However, I also was an avid scuba diver (over 500 dives) and

Thailand can't even begin to come close to the number of super clear water (can see the

moon clearly at 140 feet deep at night of course).  As a hasher, there are a lot less snakes

in the PI so that was a plus too.  Golf for me was a lot cheaper in the PI but that was 30 years

ago so...  Either way, I loved the PI and I love Thailand.  I do read that immigration activity for

the PI is better than here, but the last couple of years here, immigration has gotten a lot

easier for me - no change other than I can't get an Embassy income letter but that just saves

me about 50 USD a year plus the visit there so even that got easier.  Either country can be

almost heaven in my opinion and I also have lived/worked in many EU countries, some

African and many Asian countries and overall, Thailand is still my choice for retirement.

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I am not aware of how the cancel option will work since have not done it or seen any reports about doing it.

I guess you could try doing it to see what will happen.

To avoid errors after doing the your first report you can select to auto fill your application after entering your passport number and selecting your nationality by clicking the the magnifying glass symbol.

 

Oh this is great!  Thanks Joe for sharing this tidbit, I normally just refill all the info and this

can save me a few minutes anyway plus don't have to concern myself with fat finger mistakes.

59 minutes ago, Pawpcorn said:

We always do it a month early, too, just following the monthly SSA transfer from the USA, and THEN adding the 7 days the bank takes to request and receive the year's worth of official bank-certified monthly statements from the main bkk-bank branch in Silom (which has the impound account).

 

Earlier-the-better, IMHO, in case there are any new paperwork complications, dreamt up by Immigration, in the prior year.

Actually, here in Chiang Mai they seem to have finally admitted that they have been collecting way too much paperwork.  Over half of the documents I had were given back to me as they only need:

from the local bank, 2 documents one indicating it is my account only, and the 12 monthly transfers from overseas plus of course a copy of my updated bank book.  Nothing was needed to verify my retirement nor any banking statements from the US.  easier and easier it seems to me after 17 years of doing these extensions.

When you decided to do the 90-day online report, did you register and get a password?  Was it your first time doing a 90-day report?  I just di my third 90-day report via the online method.  Absolutely no problem.  I got an email saying that my forwarding of the info was accepted "SUCCESS" they said and then I waited on day and had another email with the new reporting date for the next 90-day report.  This sure is easy and costs nothing but a few minutes typing.  In my opinion it is now much easier than it used to be for all immigration visits - I have been doing them for 17 years partially in Bangkok and now in Chiang Mai.  I only wear long pants once a year now - getting easier - some day maybe won't have to think about it at all.

For generations the US citizens have had hundreds of millions of firearms of all types but, since the VN era, parents have failed as a whole almost in the raising of their children properly.  The newest are more opinionated, lack morals of any kind, no religious feelings, spoiled rotten and just to much of a ""me first and only" society.  Too many of them feel entitled to benefits of all kinds yet have done absolutely nothing to deserve any benefits.  I read that Maine has the strictest gun laws but the lowest killings.  This is also true for many major cities including Chicago.  It is just about impossible to confiscate over 300 million firearms so more extreme laws against bad users of firearms should be passed to incarcerate those individuals for the rest of their lives.  That is my opinion anyway and I am a gun supporter though I don't need an AR-15 or the like, just a shotgun!

On 5/30/2022 at 7:49 PM, Nickelbeer said:

Not sure about the US not providing any aid to military ruled countries. The figures I have seen show at least 17.7 billion  dollars going to Thailand from the USA in 2019. That does not include aid for Covid.

but by then the junta wasn't ruling as they had an "ElEcTiOn"...

similar effect on the 90-day report which shouldn't be affected by the date of one's

extension but mine was, I did my 90-day report in late April as required, on line and when 

I received the immigration form, it indicated that instead of 90 days I had to do the next

90-day report on the date of my extension in mid-June.  Since we can do it on line fairly

easy now, I'm not really concerned but...

The US has been friendly with Thai governments for decades although military ruled countries cannot be provided any aid.  The US sees Thailand being wooed by the Chinese who are doing this throughout the world.  We at least allow foreigners to purchase land, businesses etc in the US but try that in Russia or N.Korea or China.  The wars we have been involved in are almost totally brought about by the UN and we provide military assistance including our soldiers.  We do this to prevent any of those people from starting a war in the US to protect our citizen as forethought.  I do not always agree with their support of poor leaders but then I am not in a position to do so.  Much of the people of the world today have more freedom than they would have if the US never assisted them.  Even the bad ones we provide some kind of assistance, many times having to borrow the money to aid them.  My analysis anyway.

Australia is one of 54 (I think that is right) countries are began a process 3-4 years ago where they want certain banking information from their citizens.  As the banks have to share that information on citizens of other countries, some banks/countries are refusing to do so unless the individual client provides id documentation in order that he bank can send the local banking info of that client to his/her home country.  Therefore, some banks seeing problems with that are now insisting that their local account holders must have a residence in their tax country (I am an American and yes, my bank of 54 years dropped me as my official address in in Thailand)  I could have used a relative's home

address in the states but that too would actually be illegal.  Americans are required to file tax returns no matter where we reside or make that money.  Since they began this new process, very few US banks will provide accts for overseas residents.  We are required to file an additional government form every year for any accts we control in the local banks too if it reaches an aggregate of 10K USD during the calendar year.  I have sent in one report listing for almost a 100k but they never asked any further questions on the source of any of the funds though all was legal.  Some people have ways of providing their home country with a local telephone number although to the bank that looks like it is in a home country area.  Again, something actually illegal at least in the US as one is trying to circumvent the legal process.  Since I do  nothing wrong I see not problem in adhering to the legal processes of my government whether I am particularly happy with those processes or not.  Such is life.

5 hours ago, BayArea said:

Like I said before,  Thailand will have a hard time lifting the much awaited masks mandate completely. It has become a vital weapon for this junta to control the mass without firing a single shot. As long they conditioned the population about the risks of covid, they will appear to be in control.  This perpetual fear prevents street protests and large public gatherings to challenge this unlawful government. 

do you ever wear a mask when the AQI is unhealthy which is quite a few times during the year in South Asia including Bangkok and Chiang Mai?  Or since you don't see a need for masks do you think the medical people giving you statistics on lung problems here in this region?  Just asking...a friend many years ago was an avid runner - female type world class type and a dip.  when she returned from a tour in Bangkok, during the regular physical checkup, the doctor told her that he saw that she was in terrific physical conditioning but advised her to stop smoking.  She told the dr that she never had smoked in her life - they concluded that it was running so often in the foul air of Bangkok.  Just saying.

50 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Last year i included a copy of my TM30, as I believed someone on this forum had advised to do so.... Anyway, as my package was being surveyed, a clerk came out to ask if I had the original TM30. Say what? Why would I bring the original, which is a 3 inch wide snipoff receipt from the original application. Fortunately, for some reason, I had another A4 copy of that rip off receipt, which I had printed in color. Thus, the official "red ball" showed up in all its colorful glory. And it was accepted.

 

Now, I began going black and white, not for any cost reason, but because the agent I had been using submits everything in black and white (with blue signatures). And last year I decided I didn't need an agent's hand holding, as I could make sure myself that all the paperwork submittals are kosher -- just immitate what I saw in previous years.

 

Well, if I'd been sent home for the original "colorful" TM30, and for another day's wasted transit time, I'd have been <deleted> big time.

 

Moral of the story? Christ, hire a hand holding agent to make sure all your t's are crossed; can take your picture in the background color of the year; knows the latest "gotcha" possibilities, and compensates accordingly; and at CM, can avoid that tent at the left and get you right to the front of the "special" renewal queue.

 

And before we get wrapped around the axle over who's an agent that passes the sniff test, and which agent doesn't (i.e., those that loan you 800k in the bank, for a day or two), let me say I pay, or at least I had 'til I skipped last year, 3000 baht as their fee for hand holding, and making sure I'm good to go on renewal day. Definitely plan to go back that route my next renewal, so as not to get kicked out for not having an official red circle on a certain document. 

 

Best Friends is the agent's name. Still located near HiWay 11, Big C. They were the original agents at Promenade, back in those bad old days for extension renewals.

well, my cost was 1900 baht, I feel that with the number of questions and answers on this

forum, one should not need anyone to hold their hand.  As for the TM 30 need, I keep that in my passport also so since this was the first time I needed it, it was available just like the TM47 receipt. Now they seem to be needing less and less...maybe soon it will all go away.

8 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

As per my question above to OP,

does immigration require you to provide a TM30 or you just include it in your document package.

 

at first, I didn't include a copy of my TM30 nor my 90-day report but both of course were

stapled in my passport.  The people checking documents prior to getting a queue ticket

instructed my to go around to the back of the building and make copies of the TM-30 and 

the 90-day report.  Who am I to argue with them.  This was the first time for both for me.

17 hours ago, FriendlyFarang said:

No appointment required

Thanks for the quick reply

I have read via this forum that some people do an appointment while others say it is not necessary.  I did my last two extensions, going to my bank first for copies of bank letters (I do 3 - sole ownership of acct, 12 monthly deposits, and the bank's credit advisory (of my deposits 12), updating my bank account book, plus all pages from my bank account book; then off to immigration getting there around 10 AM and those

past 2 years I was in the bank less than 40 minutes and didn't have an appointment.  I notice on the CM Immigration page, an appointment calendar which seems to have originated in January.  I am wondering if it is necessary for me to get an appointment or just show up at

immigration.   Has anyone not having an appointment had any problems getting service lately?  Appreciate any response.

we had gutters installed 6+ years ago.  The only problem we have had is that too many installers do not have the proper joints made for joining with ends, long gutters about 3 meters per section.  After a short period they begin to leak at all joints.  Went to local stores and got black tar to paint those joints but that only lasts a short time too probably because the gutters get so warm.  I finally found a better sealer through Lazada - "FLEX & SEAL", not overly expensive and lasts several years - they have both spray to get to difficult areas and canned to be spread with a paint brush.  

I live in CM thus use Thai Immigration here - last year and this year, my 90-day report 

received prior to my long stay allowed was approved by immigration but only until my

long stay renewal - last year was about a month, this year (currently) means my 90 days

will be up within 60 days.  Since I have successfully used the new online 90-day report,

that is not a real issue as far as I am concerned.  I do my 1-year extension (40-45 days

early) about 3 weeks before I need to do my next 90-day report.  I am not sure what 

other immigration offices do and these past 2 years were different than before as I always

got the 90-day report back with a  next-do date 90 days into the future.

57 minutes ago, Card said:

For sure not a public school. You cannot compare expensive international schools in Thailand with public schools in the USA. In any case, students who were taught in international schools don't go on to study in Thai universities. They go on to the US, UK etc.

Very true!  My US/Thai daughter studied at Chiang Mai International School and yes, I consider it to be superior in most aspects than going to free (tax $) school in the US.  She speaks 4 languages, each with a different script/alphabet writing, to include teaching in several of those languages while still in school.  She also has had the opportunity to play sports and learn about other nationalities.  My first daughter, American 100%, went to international schools in many different countries, then college in the US and  is a computer software guru (troubleshooting software problems for several major banks even after leaving the software repair position).  She is an assistant CEO currently making more than the double salary of women in that state.  In some ways she was naive upon going back to the US for college but adapted quickly due to the moving from international school in one country to another.  Is now in her 50's and happy and successful in life.

International schools are not cheap but well worth the cost in my opinion.  

13 hours ago, jadee said:

You can also do the 90-day report online or via the app if you don't want to go to immigration.

Thought I have read several times that the FIRST 90-day report has to be done at immigration and then subsequent reports can usually be done successfully online.