Mark123456

10 hours ago, chickenrunCM said:

did you been before in thailand already 30 + 30 days already?

I didn't have a recent visa exempt entry in my passport but I had 2 or 3 back-to-back tourist entry visas, all of which I extended for 30 days then 60 days (After the 30 day extension you can apply for a further 60 days for the purposes of visiting Thai family if you have a wife or child here). In total, I had over 40 pages of entry and exit stamps in and out of Thailand in my passport when I made the border run, going back over the last 13-14 years. I even had an Education visa in the mix, which some claim is a red flag to immigration officials (never caused me any problems).

So, to summarise: When I went to the Mae Sai border, I was on a 60-day extension of stay that followed a 30-day extension of stay, of a 60-day permission to stay stamp given to me when I entered with a tourist visa that I obtained in Vientiane (hopefully I haven't made any mistakes with naming conventions and can avoid the ire of the forum visa terminology pedants).

They most definitely are allowing visa exempt entries at Mae Sai as I did one in February. Please don't listen to people who are saying it can't be done because they do not know what they are talking about.

11 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

why should i pay 1000 when my post just explained why i didnt need to....add in bus to and

back 900 each way---2 days in a GH..food--a LAOS visa and a THAI visa..comes to about 5000

 

And since thais make it near impoosible to work or make a decent income i only have savings

and the main reason i live here is basic human needs--housing--decent food-healthcare

 

If u have a problem with my character as a quality tourist take it up with immigaration--i pay a

thai rent--i pay thais for food--i pay thais daily--i contribute.....maybe do a search about the zero

dollar tours and where that money goes and go ask the thais what THEY think about chinese..

 

When I stayed in the Movenpick hotel near Pattaya a few months ago, it was full of Chinese tourists. At ฿4,000+ per night (about the same as the visa trip you can't afford)  I'd imagine they were making a much more substantial contribution to the local economy than someone who can't afford a visa or a flight anywhere.

I don't have a problem with your 'character as a quality tourist' I simply despise racists. If you're a financial failure I can sympathise with you but perhaps you should do something about it instead of spouting your bigoted nonsense on here. 

I've placed around 20 orders with Lazada over the last 6 months, 18 of which were fulfilled without incident and in good time. One order took 6 days to arrive from Bangkok owing to an inefficient seller and one time I received a single packs of guitar strings, as part of a larger order, when it was supposed to be a 2-pack deal. Talked to them on the phone and by email, within 4 hours I had received an apology and a credit voucher that covered the cost of both packets of strings, which I was happy to accept.

Perhaps they've improved a lot in the last 8 months?

@JaseTheBass Not sure what you mean by saying Lazada is "not based in a proper country"? Sounds a bit childish to me. For the record, they're headquartered in Singapore.

23 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

How did you extend a visa at a border crossing. You can only get a new entry from a visa at a border crossing.

Where did I say that I extended a visa at a border crossing?

First, I extended 2 visas that I had obtained outside the country, then, I made a border run to Mae Sai. The intention of my post was to reassure Apel1983 that having previously extended a visa in country is no bar to obtaining a 30-day visa-exempt entry at Mae Sai. Nowhere did I suggest that I had ever extended a visa at Mae Sai or any other border post.

6 minutes ago, Ape1983 said:

Does anyone know if you have extended visa in Thailand can you still do a border bounce at Mae Sai. Also doe you get a Burma stamp in passport and if you do how big is it.

 

The visa trips to Laos have swallowed most of my passport already.

 

cheers people.

I did a border run in Mae Sai after extending 2 or 3 visas in a row. The 2 Burmese stamps are roughly the same size as the entry/exit ones in Thailand - no one-page visa sticker.

Two negative comments about Chinese tourists and one about yourself not being a 'zero-dollar tourist', yet you're too poor to pay a ฿1,000 visa application fee apparently, or to fly anywhere. I would respectfully suggest you may be less desirable as a tourist in Thailand than the Chinese people you seem to scorn.

On 5/5/2017 at 4:36 PM, JackThompson said:

I only had to present a bank-statement - not a flight-ticket.  Recommended by my agent was over $1000 USD though, in theory, 20K Baht is technically enough.  Things may have changed in the past 6 months, though - so best to check with the agent you plan to use in Phnom Penh (I use Lucky Lucky Moto).

As to that Student-Visa - is this for a "language school" or "real university"?  You said "1 year" - which would imply it was not a language-school - though you may have repeatedly extended a language-school ED Visa to its limit of 1 year.  ED visas for language schools are treated almost as a confession of being an "illegal worker" by many involved in the Immigration process.  I have no idea if the consul at Phnom Penh would see it that way or hold it against you, but I recall a person applying for a TR in Vientiane reporting that reaction. 

 

In any case, the presence of an ED visa in a passport often accompanies rough-experiences upon attempted-entry to Thailand.  To mitigate this, be sure to have 20,000 Baht worth of cash or travelers checks when you enter the country (bank-statements and plastic won't help).  I would also get a new passport at your earliest convenience, to remove that sticker from sight, if you intend to enter Thailand frequently in the future.

I have an ED visa in my passport from about 3 years ago and have never had any problems entering Thailand since then, obtaining visas in Vientiane, or extending visas at immigration in Thailand. To say that such visas are treated as an admission of being an illegal worker by many in immigration is clearly not true as far as my experience is concerned. On what are you basing that statement? If it's hearsay or your personal opinion then perhaps it's best not to spread unsubstantiated rumours on here. You also say the presence of an ED visa in one's passport 'often accompanies rough experiences upon attempted-entry to Thailand': do you have any proof or is this more conjecture on your part? 

On 5/5/2017 at 11:43 AM, edgarfriendly said:

Savannakhet... see previous post ( ID33)

But you're not married to a Thai are you?

16 hours ago, colinneil said:

Not moral police just stating facts about living here.

You're not stating any facts, just your opinion, which is irrelevant as far as the questions asked by the OP are concerned. 

4 hours ago, Keith5588 said:

1. I was with her for 6 weeks 24/7, we occasionally wrote messages to each other, sometimes when I wanted the answer in writing. Her written English is very good, speaking slightly less good. She said she learn English during 4 years of college.

2. She works 8 am to 9 pm a lot of weekdays, I have the name of the company, they make plastic tubes.

3. She said she had worked for the same company for 20 years. I was also surprised they let her have 6 weeks away from work, would that be very unusual?

4. She said she has a brother living in Bangkok and also her first son age 28, both have jobs.

5. She said she needs 7,000 Baht to support her son, 5,000 Baht to support herself.  Do you think she was lying to me?

6. She lives about 30 km West of Bangkok centre, further out than the trains take you, about 20 km West of the last train station. She lives in a small one bedroom house with her younger son. The house is owned by her brother. I went to be with her for a few days (before she came to me in Khon Kaen) and we stayed at a hotel close to where she lives but I never went to her small house.

 

Meatboy, you have also stated she would need at least 50,000 Baht.

 

She said her basic pay is just 10,000 Baht per month, but she always does the overtime and so increases it to 15,000 Baht. 

 

I now have doubts, am I so wrong? Has she lied to me?

 

Thanks 

Keith

Of course she doesn't need 50k a month, that's a ridiculous statement to make without knowing a lot more about her situation and lifestyle. My major worry, if I were you, would be why you feel the need to seek reassurance from strangers regarding your future partner's honesty. I don't mean that in a rude or flippant way; I would be genuinely concerned if I were you. After all, you know her and we don't.

On 5/2/2017 at 10:32 AM, pauleddy said:

After 13 years here I can only echo the advice of sceptics. Thailand is a hot and dirty dump. Most "romantic" partners are after your money. It is virtually an unwritten law that girls (and sometimes boys) must send money to mother in a village (or keep a whole family). A few years back, I was living with somebody who was giving me 40 GBP a month to offset rent, power, wifi, food and everything (about 600 pounds a month back then). I did not find out for 9 months that the person was sending 160 pounds a month to keep a family. The last person with whom I got hooked up for a while asked to move into my large house, and actually dumped me when I asked for a token 4000 baht ALL FOUND, to live in a large house where 4,000 does not even cover the electricity. The person could not fathom that it's a 2-way street---giving money also brings a sense of entitlement and stability.

 

The romance vs. family culture here is 180 degrees opposite, and you cannot escape it. I have asked several Thais about "who comes first?" and it is always the parents, then the siblings, and even the old pals from junior school (Thais have "clusters" of friends from school who support eachother forever). The lover or white boyfriend is about number 4 down the list.

 

A friend of mine who is happily hitched to a Thai has given up the fight. He regularly pays for mother to have a new bathroom or car. He calls it "The Tax". It is what you pay for living here. I hate the idea. I have dumped more than one person when they started to ask for money. AND:--be careful because the smart ones REFUSE your money today but play the long game! You may not get asked for a car or holiday for 12 months, while you are being reeled in. All desire for money will be happily denied.

 

I can already hear the indignation...OK, there exists a minority who are happy with the trade-off or consider themselves in a stable relationship. But they are not in the majority.

 

Eddy

I'm not indignant but you are painting with a brush that is far too broad. I've been with my gf and recently wife for 10 1/2 years and never had any negative experiences with money. I have had one or two financial dealings with her family that I wasn't too happy about - they insisted on paying off the outstanding balance of our mortgage last year, which I didn't want them to do - but overall I couldn't be happier.

That's largely irrelevant as far as the OP is concerned of course but my point is this: don't be swayed by what many people here have to say about relationships with Thai females because they cannot accept the fact that actually, they aren't all the same. Tell them yours is different and they will ridicule you, simply because they are bitter and disenchanted.

35 minutes ago, patrick1968 said:

just came back last night same only got sigle o in savanakhet there is no multiple enter 

So how come another poster had his application for a multiple entry non-imm 'O' accepted today?

1 hour ago, Darafarangset said:

So what should we do guys? 

 

Better to get out and come back and 30 days exemption (and maybe another extension) 

or get a visa in Laos? 

Of course we'll have all the documents they might ask for in both situations (flight back, bank statement...) 

If it were me, I'd get the tourist visa and not speak Thai / Laos when going through Thai immigration. I only say that because you thought your other nationality may have caused problems last time. If you think they will know from your appearance then just disregard that advice. Either way, I hope everything goes well for you and you have a safe trip :)

7 hours ago, BernieOnTour said:

IMHO that "de facto proof you are working" depends also on the language school, you are attending. - In case, it is one of the infamous ones, eg. the one starting with "W", I assume you are right. However, if one selects one of those institutions, whose primary interest is not to get as many paying students as possible via ED Visa, but primarily to teach Thai, it is for sure different. ( Institutions like CMU, Payap, AUA, ... come to mind.)

 

However, I admit, this more than unlikely an alternative for the OP as she intends to work in Thailand: "I like cities, big cities that gives you opportunity to build of future and make money."

 

... I am sure, the next (and maybe, this time definitive) crackdown on the "co-working" spaces will come. Just too many "digital nomads" abusing the system and working illegally in Thailand with limited spending.

How did you make the leap to co-working spaces from the OP's comments? Got a little bee in your bonnet about digital nomads? If I'm on holiday in a foreign country and contemplating the possibility of working there in the future, that doesn't make me a criminal or a digital nomad. A little less self-righteousness and a little more sharing of knowledge would make this forum a much nicer and more useful place to spend time online.

Also, if I recall correctly, there's absolutely no mention of what school you are attending on the ED visa stamp in your passport so it's completely irrelevant as far as exiting and entering the country is concerned. It might make a difference when applying for an extension at one's local immigration office but the point you were responding to specifically stated "checkpoint-IOs" so it clearly wasn't related to extensions.

Darafarangset,

You will almost certainly be fine if you go to Vientiane and get a visa. There seem to be a lot of posts replying to you that are not based on facts. I have a 48-page passport filled with a variety of visas for Thailand and a number of visa-exempt entries, clearly showing that I've been here for 7 years without being out of the country for more than two weeks and I obtained a tourist visa in Vientiane last September with no problems at all.

On 19/04/2017 at 2:21 PM, Chivas said:

Sorry totally disagree you always need hard cash to cover every possible emergency, when I said £2000 that was very much the bottom line for me normally I have nothing less than 5 large with me on outgoing flights

As Brits we cant get around the 200/220 baht fee atm easily I'm not throwing away £100 and then some on fees on extended trips

If and when sterling approaches 50 again then yes i will send a 10 bundle to the scb but certainly not yet

I guess it's down to each of us to do what we feel comfortable with: I can't envisage my bank ever taking more than a couple of hours to sort out a major problem and I cant imagine ever desperately needing to spend £5,000 in that sort of time period. On the other hand, I can imagine losing my bags or being robbed. 

On 3/4/2017 at 2:52 PM, Chivas said:

I'm neither rich or poor but simply would never contemplate travelling 6000 miles without at least £2000 in hard cash every time no exceptions. Who the hell travels that distance and relies solely on cards.

Hell even back home I dont leave house without walking around money of £500 or so

What has the distance got to do with anything? 600 miles or 6,000 miles would be much the same. I've never carried £2,000 in cash when travelling and never would. I think it's plain stupid to carry that amount of money unnecessarily and I have never encountered a problem withdrawing cash that couldn't be solved in around 10 minutes with a call to my bank. Let's assume one has a couple of ATM/Debit cards and at least one credit card - I would say there is 0% possiblity they would all stop working at the same time and certainly not for so long that you would need £2,000 in cash to cover your expenses. 

44 minutes ago, JIMHILL said:

May I point out, getting a visa from the embassy is one thing, but how immigration; at the point of entry, handle it is the other matter 

Quite true but I seriously doubt the OP will run into any problems, judging from my own experiences.

1 hour ago, dbrenn said:

It would only require minimum skills to fill in forms. Such a person would be paid at or near the minimum wage - perhaps less if they use university student interns as did the land transport department. 

 

I'd clarify my earlier post by saying that 'the daily wage for entry level clerical work is 300 Baht'.

My point was that, by insinuating the average or ordinary daily wage was only 300 baht, you were seeking to make what is in fact a small fee seem larger than it really is. Furthermore, it is a little overly-simplistic of you to assume that the entire proceeds of the fee go directly towards salaries.

2 hours ago, dbrenn said:

Not sure that it's worth 200 baht to fill in a couple of forms, in a country where the daily wage is only 300 baht. The land transport department charged me only 10 Baht for a similar service. 

 

Airports have a captive audience, so profiteer on pretty much everything they sell.

300 baht is the minimum daily wage, not 'the daily wage'.

One last thing @ Vaughan. Don't stress too much - the girl at the embassy was really helpful when I did mine a couple of months ago. If you do make any mistakes with your form, she will tell you what they are and you can use the PC in the waiting area to correct your form (make sure you email yourself a copy before you go or save it in Dropbox or whatever). Then, you email your corrected version to her and she will print it out for you. And don't worry about proof of address either. They ask for it on the website but not at the embassy. I didn't have proof of an address in the UK so I used a Thai address and rental contract as proof of that address. She told me that some amphur offices won't accept the affidavit if you have a Thai address and suggested I use a UK one, even if I had no proof that I lived there. So I did. :) Good luck.

I don't think you need to be as specific as the Khet/Amphur - I just wrote Chiang Mai on mine, which meant I could have taken it to any amphur in the province. In fact, I think it's a good idea not to name a precise location unless you are 100% sure that there will be no queues and no issues at that particular government office.

Oh, and you don't need to put the date, just the month.

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't see where is asks that on the template.

On the example shows it is done this way.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-for-british-nationals-intending-to-marry-in-thailand

On the example you posted, Bangkok Metropolis is the place of Marriage. All they are looking for is a province, or city in the case of Bangkok.

To the OP - It does not refer to the religious ceremony or the date of the consular visit; it refers to the location of the government office where you will be registering your marriage.

1 minute ago, LannaGuy said:

So what you're saying is you have NO evidence you just wanted to TROLL my thread?  thanks

I've personally met several people who ran away from the UK owing money on credit cards, one more than £30,000 but that doesn't prove anything. My point was that Thai people are not stupid and they understand perfectly well what a credit card is and how it is supposed to work but the banks would have no way to recover debts from foreigners who decided to go home so it's understandable they ask for guarantees in many cases. That's a simple, indisputable fact, not a troll.

You don't need credit cards to buy things online from overseas vendors either. You can use a visa debit card, as others have stated. You seem to have a poor grasp of how banking payment systems work.