Inquisitorial

42 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

OP, you state you entered Thailand August 2019. How many days in total have you spent in los until now?

Reason I ask is that you really are tourists, however the way Thailand works is that visa exempt exempt entries esp to DMK airport will at some point cause you issue.

Your obtaining visa now but there might be an issue at some airports

Since August we have been in Thailand for about 140 days, we have a holiday home here and use Bangkok as a base for our travel.  Most of our arrivals have been via Suvarnabhumi airport, we have only had one arrival at DMK and this trip to KL will be our second. 

Thank you so much Ubonjoe and BritTrim. great info ????????

at this stage we are thinking of flight to KL and obtain the 60 day visa.  Off to explore flight deals. 

Hi I am hoping some of you would be able to provide us some guidance.  

Some Background:

We first arrived in Bangkok in August 2019 on a 30 day tourist exemption visa.  We have left the country every 30 days to explore Asia and elsewhere in the world.

Since Jan 2020 we have returned to Thailand via air twice.  We were supposed to fly to South Korea at the end of this month but due to the Coronavirus this trip has understandably been cancelled.

Our next trip is booked to depart Thailand on the 2nd June.

We sought one 30 day extension in January which was granted and we are now required to leave the country on or before the 1st April.

My question is:

1.  How many times can you enter Thailand on a tourist exemption visa?  I am confused as I have read two times and six times.  

2. Can you extend a Tourist 30 day exemption more than once in a calendar year.

3.  Any other options open to us? 

Your guidance/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all your replies.  We gave the lady the photo this morning and her smile said it all, she was delighted with the photo.

I will post the photo on the topic thread Ron mentioned above.

Thanks again 

One of our hobbies since retirement is photography in particular street photography.  We took some great shots of a lady at her stall (with her permission) the other morning.

We would like to give the lady a print of the photo but am not sure if there is any local customs that we need to be aware of. We certainly don’t want to offend or breach any local customs.

Would it be okay to give her the photo?

Thanks

12 hours ago, AlexRich said:

I used Pro Language for six months in a group class. It was quite good as they start you off with Thai words and simple phrases that you can put into practical use. They don't get into Thai script until after six months ... that might work for you? You could go while you're in Thailand, and consolidate your learning whilst out of Thailand so that when you go back you are up to date and ready for the next stage. 

Thanks Alex I will check them out. I see they offer one free visit.

Hi

I want to try and learn some Thai and am looking at attending group lesson at one of the Language schools.  I have found some reviews of various schools but they are rather dated and I would like to get some more up to date info.

I was hoping to get some feedback from the TV community who have attended these courses and if they would recommend them.

I am only looking to learn basic daily conversation Thai, being in my 60’s and a bit death I don’t think I am going to be very good but thought it would be fun to try as I am newly retired and will be spending 4 to 6 months in Thailand each year. I would like to give it a go.

Any one attended the TLS classes?  There is one not far from our Condo in Bangkok and seems to be fairly reasonably priced. 30 lessons for 4200 baht.

Thanks 

Hi. We have condo about 10 min walk from Phrom phong and love the location.  The size of the condo you are looking at is very good value for the price.  Personally I would not go for one less than 100sm. 

Perhaps you could ask to speak to one of the committee members, that way you can find out more about how pro active the maintenance is.

have you checked out what the common area management fees are and if they have a sinking fund?

not sure if you are Thai if not you will have to check the foreign ownership, it can not be more than 49%.

2 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

At the condo I am currently occupying, we get ferried to the BTS using a large electric golf cart. It's only 3 or 400 metres and I take it if it's going, driven by the maintenance man, very good.

 

Never checked if it's registered or insured, but I doubt it.

We are about 800m to the BTS so am thinking the extra distance may make electric golf cart unsuitable as they do need to drive on Sukhumvit road,  we will look into it, but as you say it may not be possible to get an electric cart  registered and/or insured.

1 hour ago, joebrown said:

'The Tuk Tuk is always out for repairs'. Maybe so, but are you sure it's not being used out of site of the condo as a private taxi service?

Not the case it is just parked in the bay awaiting repair - they seem to do most repairs onsite.  though I am sure it is used for the occasional private run.

Our condo block operates a Tuk Tuk to and from the BTS this is managed by our property managers who employ the drivers via the security company.

The Tuk Tuk is always "out for repairs" which we think is due to the way the drivers operate the tuk tuk for example they always seem to start off in second gear, plus general checking is poor, i.e. when we checked it the water and oil was very low.  The tuk tuk is now in need of replacing due to the misuse after only 5 years of use.

We were wondering if those of you are in condo blocks with tuk tuks can share how the tuk tuk is managed and who drives it and if you have same problems.  Certainly when we look around the other tuk tuks running around our area seem in much better condition.

We are trying to work out the best cost effective solution.

Many thanks

Also take vics vapour rub with you and use during flight

2 hours ago, cacahootie said:

I stayed in an AirBnB right next door for a couple weeks about 4 months ago.  Suffice to say, ShowDC is a joke between the girlfriend and I.  I got food poisoning the first time I went to the food court.  The mall is usually uncomfortably empty, except for big groups of asian tourists.  The restaurants are somewhat unique, but overpriced compared to the standard offerings.  We didn't avail ourselves of any of the tourist perks, somewhat unfortunately in retrospect.  Personally I wouldn't go out of my way to go back.  There were a good number of coffee shops though, so we did visit often for that reason.  It's definitely nice inside.  But it's really not aimed at locals at all, it's aimed at people who don't know better who are duped into paying the high prices at the stores.

Thanks for feedback won’t waste time going out there

Hi Sheryl

some of the older people still wearing black but we are wearing other colours now.

Bangkok appears back to normal today.

I opened a new account with Tourist visa in March this year but we do own a condo which we had to supply proof of ownership in order to open the account  this was at Bangkok Bank Sukhumvit near Emporium.  

Hi

does anyone know what the ramifications are if you do not submit the 1/2 yearly tax form due in Sept but do submit the annual form in March?

Is it really required?

make sure you check foreign ownership in the complex you decide upon cant be over 49%

15 hours ago, BritTim said:

Make sure your immigration office understand that you will be traveling, and may not be around when and if they do a house visit. It will be easier to explain this ahead of time rather than when they are upset about a wasted visit.

Does immigration do house visits for retirement visa?

If so how often does this occur?

Is the for everyone or do they just select random?

I have used airbnb many times but only once in Bangkok. It was only for 3 day stay so not a lot at risk.  I did not have  any problems.  My payment was via Airbnb system no extra asked for.  

I also use Trip advisor a fair bit always check out what Airbnb and TripAdvisor have on offer for the location I am looking at.

Opened a new account yesterday at kk bank in Bangkok. We wanted new account in single name for retirement visa.  Initially they told us that without the retirement visa stamp in passport or work permit they would not open new account New Head Office rule.  I asked how do we get retirement visa without having 800k in bank account? Just told new rule.

We already had joint account with another branch of KK bank.

eventually got them to open account after proving we owned a condo.

they filled in all paperwork and then said they needed HO approval which took about 20 min to occur 

Not sure what the Thai legal obligations are  however the Condo should have insurance protecting the office bearers, we have 2 farang's who are on the juristic committee for our condo block and they have not mentioned any negatives with being on the committee.  I see this as a positive as you will be able to ensure pro active maintenance and  you have more insight into the actual running on your condo block.  

If we were going to spend longer periods in Thailand I would consider nominating as it is one way of  ensuring your asset is maintained and keep eye on the Juristic office managers.

Obviously you would need to consider who  the other two owners are going to be to ensure you will be able to work with them.

3 hours ago, Dan5 said:

I''ve been paying my electric bill online for over 7 years now. I just pay the bill through my K bank account the same way I do for True, etc. I'm in Bangkok. 

So can you log into your account details online in order to see the bill?

Does anyone know if it is now possible to pay the electric bill online? I know this was not possible when I last enquired but this morning I noticed they have updated the web page and it has login and e service.

thanks

Has anyone been yet?.  Would be good to get some feedback if the trip is worthwhile 

13 hours ago, pineapplepen said:

Yeah I was thinking about that, not sure Id want to tbh, is that a viable option?

 

Yes I have forfeited all of the deposit, all bills and rent has been paid, there is some damage like I said, just wondering if she will pursue it. What would she have to do if she wanted to pursue this? She spends most of her time outside of Thailand as Im aware too.

Hope you took photos of the damage for proof later just in case they say damage was worse than it actually was.  I agree with earlier post if you let them know you are going to the tax office to make sure all taxes have been paid may assist your cause,  Good Luck