Grumpy Old Man

At Chiangmai Immigration the "Bank Letter" supporting an "Extension to Stay" application can be up to but not exceeding seven days old but you are still required to do a "Bank Book" update on the day of the application.

I usually do a "Bank Book" update anytime after midnight the day before, therefore it's dated on the date of the application and submit my "Extension to stay" application as early as possible.    

I apologise if I'm breaking any rules of the forum for posting this, if I don't ask I'll never know.

I tried to start a GoFundMe but that's not possible from within Thailand, I have a very trusted friend in Scotland who has started a "GoFunMe" on my behalf from the UK that can be viewed online https://gofund.me/fc17d51f 

For full financial transparency any donation received will be handled by a trusted SCB Manager and fully receipted; please read the information below and if you feel you would like to help with a financial donation please contact myself directly for more information.

My target is one million Baht approximately 21,500 pounds Stirling but anything will help.

After the military coup in Myanmar during February 2021 and the reports of torture and sexual abuse by state forces many at risk people fled Myanmar, this included ten young ladies ranging from the ages of fourteen to twenty one, the young ladies found themselves in Chiangmai Thailand in the care of distant relatives and the Christian church now I need your help with their continued education; I’m trying to raise money to give these young ladies a full sponsorship at the “SmartSeed Learning Centre” Chiangmai Thailand for the next year.

I have donated my time and English language skills six hours a week for the last three months but that’s not enough to help them have a future through education.

A full sponsorship would include all education materials, uniforms, meals and pay for a part time native English speaking teacher.

We can’t educate every refugee but these ten are a good start.

Thank you for your consideration

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The simple answer to your question is . . "Land is only worth as much as somebody else is willing to pay for it"

If I liked the rented property enough to stay I personally customise the CCTV camera lens with a newly bought roll of "Duck Tape" . . . . Duck Tape fixes 95% of all issues. . . . . . 

I was at a very well known private hospital in Chiangmai yesterday for my annual flu vaccination, of course I asked the question regarding Corvid vaccination; I was told by a very polite medical professional

"The hospital is try it's best to provide Corvid vaccinations as a medical service but currently this facility is unavailable for a number of reasons out with their control; also there is no formal registration for a medical service they can't provide"  

A very professional and  diplomatic answer to my questions.

Currently as of 13:00Hrs Sunday 24th April 2021 there are no travel restrictions between provinces on mainland Thailand and no requirements for a Corvid Virus test at your departure point or arrivals destination but this can change at any moment.

Please be aware that if you take a Corvid Virus test of any sort in Thailand and you get a POSITIVE result you'll be in Thai Government / Hospital quarantine for at least fourteen days at your own cost !     

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

Well I would probably have passed the blue truck on the left before I got stuck there? He was obviously going from left to right to make a U-turn ight from the beginning of the video.

But that is just my take.

What he should have, or have not, done is irrelevant, it is how we react which is important.

Thank you for your comment; if you watch the video, it's not a U-Turn for the direction we're traveling, there is a NO U-Turn approximately 40m before ! 

On 3/22/2021 at 11:42 AM, Thailand said:

Care For Dogs perhaps?

Thank you for your suggestion of WVS Thailand - Care For Dogs Hang Dong; I'll give them a visit 

Good morning happy people

I'm looking for a puppy/young female dog/bitch as a companion to an older female dog/bitch; if you have a litter of puppies and you're looking for a great country home for a puppy please message me.

Kind regards

GOM 

16 minutes ago, Yorkshire Tea said:

So, how much did you pay?  Last time I checked there was a 55 quid payment to VFS Chiang Mai.  Has this changed?

There is NO payment of any amount to VFS Global Chiangmai, all payments for your UK Passport renewal and the courier service are direct to the UK Passport Office 118.00 pounds for my 32 page ten year Passport and DHL return courier service included.

I’d like to thank everyone for their suggestions and advise Etc. The “Bad fish” are doing very well . . . 

29 minutes ago, dodgybros said:

Although the photo's are not clear it looks like a cichlid, not sure if African or South American, aggressive with any fish other than their own kind.

Thank you for your suggestion . . Maybe the “White Cichlids” it better behave itself because it’s in with two “Alligator Gar” and a “Red Tail Catfish”

6 minutes ago, timendres said:

Maybe you intended to include a picture of the fish in question?

I can see three photos from my side . . ? ? 

I’m a very amateur fish keeper / home aquarium keeper and on my last visit to my local aquarium shop the lady owner asked me to look at two fish in an isolation tank at the back of the shop saying “Bad fish, fight everything, Mr David take away” I agreed to take them both away; one was very easy to identify being a very young “Channel Catfish” at about 12cm in length but the other fish I’m struggling to identify, I am hoping there are some far more knowledgeable people than myself who can identify my new “Bad Fish”

I’ve tried the “Immigration Service” application from my iPhone and iPad and the system says there is no Immigration file / data connected to may data / name / passport Etc. That was a bit worrying until I did my 90 day reporting today at Chiangmai Immigration using the “Drive Thru” . . . . A painless experience from the comfort of my air conditioned truck   

7 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Where is it?

 

Thai Immigration Office Chiangmai near the airport . . . Follow the signs for “DRIVE THRU 90 DAYS” . . . . Simple ! 

Two of my friends who work in a quality boutique hotel in Chiangmai have had their working week cut to four days a week for the foreseeable future and advised their working week maybe cut even further, this has also impacted their salaries; I know they’ll have problems supporting their families. 

On 1/30/2020 at 8:17 AM, cnxgary said:

Other than the map drawn on Imm. stationary what else did you need to show? All Imm. Dept. have there own requirements did you for example have to produce pictures of you and wife or did Imm. want witnesses present? Did you have to have the bank book updated showing a update on the day of your application? Did you have to show a police clearance or medical clearance letter?

We had to have four photos of my wife and myself at our home one including the house number.

No witnesses of any sort.

I update my bank book on the morning of the application and also received a letter from my bank with required financial information.

No Police or medical letter required or requested at Chiangmai Immigration Office. 

3 hours ago, cnxgary said:

So.... in other words are you saying that a hand drawn map showing where you reside is no longer acceptable unless the map is drawn on paper issued by the immigration dept.? This paper is available where?

Correct, any quality of map is accepted if it’s on the Immigration Office issued paperwork / document 

I would like to share my experience at Chiangmai Immigration on Monday 27th January for submitting my documents for my “Extension to stay based on marriage to a Thai National” or Marriage Visa.

This is my fourth “Marriage Visa” and every time the procedure and required documents have been different so I expected no different this time; my wife is meticulous with document preparation and presentation so I was hopeful there wasn’t going to be much wrong.   

We arrived at 08:30Hrs and the queue to get a queue number was out the door and half way across the car park; it took ninety minutes just to get in the front door.

Behold the procedure has changed again, outside the front door there is now a desk manned by “Immigration Assistants” who advise you on document changes Etc. The front reception desk is now pre checking / clearing before you get issued with a queue number, at this point we are advised that the “Ordnance Survey” quality map of our home and surrounding area wasn’t correct because it wasn’t on “Chiangmai Immigration” headed paper, we had to leave the queue and draw a new home area map on “Chiangmai Immigration” headed paper; the map produced at this stage a five year old could have done better but it’s now on the required paper.

Finally getting a queue number approximately 11:30Hrs the normal wait starts; all “Long stay Visa” are now being processed at one of the four front Officer desks L3 - L6.

Over the Public Address system you are repeatedly advised to wait somewhere else if your number is not imminent or use the QR code queue number tracking application to track you position in the queue; I tried the queue number tracking application but I was told the application usage had expired.

On getting to the Immigration Officer dealing with my document submission he was excellent and went through his process in a professional manner, firstly producing another two A4 documents that we needed to complete, one by myself acknowledging I understand the penalties for overstaying my Visa and working without a work permit and the other by my wife confirming she’s still allowing me to live on her land.

I was challenged over my annual Thai bank account activity because they wanted to see a whole years activity, I confirmed the is only one payment into this account every year and that is to get the booked updated on the morning of my Visa application, I was asked about other Thai bank accounts and how much I have at this point my wife advised the Officer “Not required information”

After the usual multiple signatures, stamps and the 1900 Fee I am “Under Consideration” until the 14th March I guess I’ll know if I have a new Visa on the 14th of March !

From arriving at the Thai Immigration Office Chiangmai to walking out the door with my “Under Consideration” stamp in my passport just under five hours. . . . . . . 

Hopefully I can help . . . . 

Firstly I have spoken to a very good friend of mine who is a very experienced Thai Immigration Office, she told me that there was a very concerted effort to have ALL Thai Immigration related offences added to the current data base and there is a very high probability that the personal details, offence and punishment of your friend have been recorded on the current data base; all entry bans would enforced.

Private message me if you want help with checking the current Immigration status of your friend