DUS

Why not take the van/bus from Ekkamai?

1 minute ago, KhunBENQ said:

Something does not fit here.

 

We have May 5th today.

July 19th would be 75 days from today.

This is more than a tourist visa would allow (60 days).

 

When you arrived you got an entry stamp ("ADMITTED UNTIL").

Does it really say July 19th? (19 JUL 2017)?

 

Well spotted, m8! Could be an METV, though.... Let´s wait what the OP will say about this....

1 minute ago, Rhys said:

..just asking, can you open a bank account on a Tourist visa?

 

Yes.... but it might involve visiting more than 1 bank branch....

Yes. :-)

3 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

Yeah this is exactly correct. 

I intend to email the application within the next week or so. The wording was a bit strange in the way that it sounded like they wanted to have a scan of 3 empty pages emailed to them alongside the other scans/copies. Anyway, I´ll send whatever they need and then we´ll see.....

43 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Why did you only get the 5 year 500k visa ? Vs 20 year 1m visa

Are you asking me or the original poster my response you quoted above referred to?

Personally, I haven´t signed the application form yet but I will in all likelihood go for 5 years since (and I am quoting comments made by other users):

- "Go for the 5 years membership because this will take you over the 50 years "threshold" and then you can have a look and decide if you fancy doing the visa and extensions based on retirement."

- "Go for the 5 years membership because it will give you plenty of time to figure out if Thailand is the right place for you and if you like it you can then decide between renewing the TE membership or going down the route of "extension based on retirement".

- "5 years is long enough a commitment to make in the first place, so don´t go for the 20 years membership."

I agree, though, that the 1mn option IS tempting as it gives an extra 15 years for "only" 500k more. Still, I think the reasons given in the quotes above are valid and that´s why I will most likely go for the 5 yrs membership when I put pen to paper.

32 minutes ago, Mattd said:

I'd imagine that they mean that your passport must still have 3 blank pages in it?

20 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Agree

Wording in email is more than a little confusing.

Hello my fellow Blondes,

Thanks for your feedback! :-)

Yes, I think the pp needs to have 3 blank pages but it feels "odd" that they ask for 3 blank pages to be scanned and emailed. Guess, I will just do it "for piece of mind" ... lol

Quick one:

If you use transferwise, will you still be able to prove that the funds in your Thai bank account were transferred from abroad? 

Quick question:

When I contacted TE they came back with some info incl. this:

The total process to apply as Thailand Elite Member will take not more than 20 working days. First, please kindly send us 3 simple documents via e-mail.

1. Copy of the first page of the Passport with full biodata for background / record check (with 3 blank pages and last entry stamp) 
2. High Resolution Photo for the membership card (Passport size)
3. Filled and correctly signed application form

Now, I seem to have a blonde moment since I am not sure what he means with "with 3 blank pages and last entry stamp". Sure, I can scan the page with the latest entry stamp but what´s that with the 3 blank pages? Do they really want me to scan 3 blank passport pages so that they know I´ve got that number of empty pages in my pp? Can´t really believe that but who knows ...

Thank you!

I went there on a few occasions using the BTS and then local busses but I'd recommend taking either a cab from Nana or (preferably) get to MoChit on the BTS and grab a taxi to the ground from there. 

Enjoy the game at Police! We beat them last Sunday! :-))

1 hour ago, bskerr2 said:

I have a TR M multi entry visa. I find it's great and after 60 days I fly or bus over to Cambodia etc. and then come back in to Thailand without having to apply for a new visa. 

 

BUT, now I don't need to go to a wedding in Cambodia and can stay in Thailand longer so I would like to ask has anyone been able to extend in Thailand their 60 days to 90 days using a multi-entry visa. I would ideally like to go to immigration and pay the extra for another 30 days if possible. 

 

I am also assuming that if I get another 30 days my 6 month visa is still valid until it expires in August?

Yes, no problem to extend your current 60 days by 30 days at Immigration (1,900b). And it won´t have any impact on the last entry before date (which you say in your case is August).

4 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

and there is no chance that the TE program will stop, or changes made to it? You are living in Thailand you know.

And there is no chance your whatever you are on visa will be rescinded or a renewal/extension made prohibitively expensive for you? Everything is possible.... not only in LoS. 

But given that you´ve shown above that you don´t even know the full list of features offered by TE I rest my case. As my signature says, as far as bashing, moaning and alternative facts are concerned, you CLEARLY beat me with your experience. 

Cheers!

DUS

3 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Yes, at a cost, but if you can afford to lose it, then good luck to you. Oh! and don't forget your 90 day reporting or the cost of a re entry permit.

???? 

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

Even if I did have it, I personally would not gamble 500k or 1 mil on what  or who is next in power, Thailand is far too unstable to take that gamble.(imho).

Fair enough! 

The TE program has survived coups etc so I´m personally not too concerned about that but yes, as I said, some don´t WANT to become TE members and that´s perfectly fine. I am only laughing about those who seem to become almost agitated whenever TE gets mentioned. LOL

Anyway, this thread isn´t about TE but the 10 yrs senior TR visa so ´nuff said about TE in this thread from my side.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

1 minute ago, louse1953 said:

At least you get some money back from your investment in a car,quite a lot in Thailand.You get nothing back from TE visa,you can't sell it and if you pull out you get nothing.Fair enough for the rich under 50's,but anybody else would be a mug.

The TE member pays for what she/he perceives as "piece of mind" for 5, 10 or 20 years and they value that "piece of mind" at 500k - 1mn. That´s what a TE member pays for and that´s exactly what he/she gets. Nothing less and nothing more. The fact that it becomes such an emotional topic for those who don´t have / don´t want to have / cannot afford a TE membership, however, puzzles me.

Just now, abab said:

 

 

Hello, if already in Thailand, where to meet elite to put the visa in the passport ? And do you know if it's possible to pay them when meeting them ? Thanks.

 

 

Can be done at CW. But you have to pay the 500k in advance.

36 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

"everyone with the elite visa says how good it is".   Of course they do, people with plenty of money who can afford to lose it.

I understand that you "hate" the TE program but your arguments get weaker by the day, imho. So what do you mean "who can afford to lose it"? The 500k are an investment in a more comfortable way of spending extended periods of time in TH. Of course there are those (esp. under the age of 50) who prefer to go on 6 visa runs every year hoping that the SETV regime won´t change. And of course the same goes for those who do not have the money to invest the 500k or see no value in it compared to spending 30, 40 or 60k a year for their visa runs. Each to their own. However, it is an investment in, what someone recently called a "lifestyle", and as with many investments the money partially or fully disappears. Whoever bought a car knows that the moment you drive off the dealer´s car park you´ve lost thousands and thousands of your initial investment/payment. But does the buyer care, worry (or like you moan) about it? 

Anyway, ´nuff said.....

Hi,

I returned to TH yesterday on my now expired METV so I am good to stay till the end of June. As I have no intention to go to my home country anytime soon for a 3rd METV, or to apply for an ED visa or to go on countless SETV visa runs for years to come, I have decided to go for the 5 year TE membership. Just 2 questions came to my mind:

a/ When should I apply for the TE membership? Should I send in the application form at the end of May, later or earlier?

b/ If I went to CW for getting the visa put into my passport before my current permission to stay expires, would that be any issue at all or would the current permission to stay (26th of June or somewhere around that day) just become void once they put the TE visa in my passport?

Have a nice weekend everyone.

DUS

If WW III were to break out I certainly wouldn't give a to$$ about the economic impact on Thailand, tbh. 

25 minutes ago, BadCash said:

With a METV, is it considered "ok" to just do a quick 1-2 day border run when needed, or is that frowned upon the same way it is with TR visas and exemptions?

 

Are there any problems or other "side effects" with coming and going halfway through a stay? For example, let's say I arrive to Thailand on day 1, then on day 20 I decide to take 2 day trip to KL. That gives me 2 new months, right? And no limit on how many times I can come and go, and how long I have to stay out each time? So on day 43 I can do another weekend trip to Vietnam, etc, etc, with no negative impact on my immigration "trustworthiness" when coming back to Thailand?

 

Also, is there any difference coming and going by land vs. by air, from the perspective of immigration I mean?

For the last 10 months or so I have been doing exactly what you plan to do and (so far) never had any issues when returning from a short hop across the border. So even with 2 back-to-back METVs nobody at Immigration has ever started to ask questions etc. This is of course no guarantee that this won´t happen next time I come back to TH (at the end of this month).

I don't agree with a lot of things Merkel says but this time she's 100% spot on with her comment.

A four letter word starting with "c" comes to mind......

15 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I assumed as much. Just checking. Thanks.

You went for TE?

5 hours ago, tw25rw said:

Do I need an ed visa to do this? I'm thinking of visiting Bangkok for a few weeks and would like to do some lessons.

You don't need an "ED visa" for studying at any of the language schools.

1 hour ago, SunsetT said:

Do you know if it is a requirement from London please?

 

Yes, I do ...

http://thaiembassyuk.org.uk/en/node673