Xiao

I'm supposed to report on the 12 and on the 15 I fly out of Thailand. If I don't report, when I come back 2 weeks later, do they start to count as day 1? Or do they fine me for not reporting before or on the 12? Thanks.

Being huge has become the "new normal" in Thailand that it is hard  to shop for fit blouses and dresses. They have the tendency to sell "pregnancy" clothes in many places in Thailand. Go to the bra section in a supermarket to see the cup sizes they sell: those sizes were not available 13 years ago.

On November 1, 2559 BE at 9:36 AM, chatette said:

Xiao, This thread should be useful. And to note, that the process doesn't necessarily take several years, although it is mostly a waiting game. It can be shorter; my own application took about 18 months from start to ID card.

 

Looks like it costs only 5,000 Baht to have the Thai citizenship for a foreign wife married to a Thai husband. Thanks for your link.

On November 1, 2559 BE at 11:06 AM, Faz said:

 

If you obtain an extension of stay based on marriage from your local Immigration office, you can do your 90 day reports at that Immigration office. You do not have to leave Thailand. (1,900 BHT).

 

If you get a Non Imm O ME Visa from a Thai Embassy/Consulate, then indeed you do need to leave and re-enter every 90 days, but the question then would be why you don't apply for the extension at your local Immigration office.

 

I'm confused from your posts which one you hold.

 

I have an extension of stay for another year which costs me 1,900 Baht.

I don't have to leave Thailand every 90 days. I do the 90 day report.

If I go out of Thailand, I must get a Re- Entry permit for 1,000 Baht for single or 3,800 Baht for multiple permission.

If I could have the Thai citizenship, I don't have to do those things. Thanks for your concern.

21 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

You should apply for Thai citizenship if your home country allows - normally this is much easier for a female married to a Thai to obtain.  As for using non immigration visa you should be obtaining yearly extensions of stay from immigration rather than using visas.  Are you sure that is not what you have?

I must apply for my extension of stay yearly. I'm tired of it and the Re-Entry everytime I leave Thailand. I'm thinking of applying for Thai citizenship. Will search the forum as I don't know anything about it.

Thanks everybody for your replies.

Sorry if this has been asked before. I'm new to the forum, did a search but can't find the result. I have lived in Thailand for more than 10 years using my Non-Immigration visa, being a housewife with no income. What will happen if my Thai husband dies? Will the TM ask me to go back to my previous country? Thanks.

It's 13 Sept and my dtac prepaid 2G dump phone still works. So are they trying to let us buy a 4G phone (free phone but you must sign up a monthly package for at least 299 Baht I guess) and if we don't, when do they stop the 2G thing? Thanks.

On July 12, 2559 BE at 11:05 PM, TPI said:

More information would be appreciated! My wife keeps at me to change my phone of 16 years, it doesn't do anything except get lots of nonsense Thai ads! I like being a dinosaur. 

Oh wow, 16 years!!! I thought I was the only dinosauur until I read your reply ?

On July 13, 2559 BE at 4:10 PM, jybkk said:

 

 

A phone for emergency always off?

Seriously? Never on?

 

I recommend to switch it on and test (like one should do with every emergency equipment from time to time).

Visit a DTAC service center and ask (as I am not a DTAC customer and given up to keep track with all the recent changes).

 

The 2G upgrade offer (in Thai only):

https://www.dtac.co.th/camp/prepaid/2g-upgrade.html

 

 

MY emergency ... car trouble , accidents ,... Why would I keep it on ? I have internet & email if those back home want to reach me . I switch it on .... to see my balance , and renew for 180 days.

 

So I just need a new 3G simcard in the old (dumb)phone ?
 

 

 

No, your old dumbphone most likely cannot handle 3G. Make use of the 'replacement' promotions and get a newer dumbphone for nearly free while changing the SIM at the shop. Your old dumbphone battery is also most likely dead (even without use, these batteries have a life of 2-4 years, after which they barely can hold the charge).

My battery still works well. I bought this phone for 1050 Baht 8 years ago. I charge the phone every 2-3 days now. I guess when the battery gets worse, I must buy a new cheap dumpphone which can be used for 3G. I only need to keep the number with minimum cost per year.

On July 18, 2559 BE at 10:28 AM, mtls2005 said:

While DTAC (and AIS and TrueMove H) have VoLTE, you do need a high end phone and (for now) a post-paid service to utilize it,

 

 

I saw an ad for a VoLTE phone at AIS for 3,590 THB.

 

http://store.ais.co.th/th/ais-super-combo-lava-4g-volte-870.html

 

(Note that you may have to sign up for a post-paid contract, and these Lava models may be carrier-locked to AIS.)

Thanks for your reply. To change to a post pay contract if they require will cost me at least 300 Baht per month while right now I pay only 60 Baht per year. I almost never use my phone. Just that it is convenient to call a family member while I am in lets say a shopping mall and cant locate them.

On July 13, 2559 BE at 11:19 AM, jybkk said:

Quite a little confusion in this thread.

 

What people should know:

• 2G technology is gradually being phased out in Thailand (to reuse the bandwidth for other purposes)
• 3G is now (or soon) the minimum required on a phone to work in Thailand. 4G capability isn't required
• The size of the SIM is not related to the type of network (2G, 3G, 4G can all be used with the classic big size SIM). It's just that newer 3G/4G phones prefer the smaller SIM sizes (to save space internally).
• Changing old 2G-only SIM is required because the SIM contains software that takes care of things like encryption and Identification on the network and this software cannot handle the newer networks.
• You don't need a smartphone to use 3G network if your objective is only to make calls.
• As pointed out by other posters, DTAC and other operators are pushing users to make the switch before it's too late with promotions where you basically get a 3G compliant 'dumb-phone' for free (or a couple hundred bahts). It is highly recommended to do the switch as soon as possible.

My personal recommendation is that if you don't need a smartphone, then don't buy one, especially not a cheap one. It's just going to do everything badly, including calls. If you care only about emergency/occasional calls, then get one of these cheap 3G compatible 'dumb phones' and the transition will be smooth.

So, smooth transition here sounds like I just buy a cheap 3G dump phone and I dont have to change anything. No new SIM? No lost of number? No change of package? (I pre pay 60 Baht per year now). Like buaBS has posted above, I can live without a mobile phone. Just that I dont want to run into a coin public phone to ring someone while I can do it on my cheap current phone for 2 Baht per minute.

Thanks everyone for commenting.

I don't even know what it is LOL.

Dtac keeps sending me SMS saying so. I guess if I take their "free" 4G phone, I must stick to one of their packages and the cheapest option is to pay about 299 Baht + tax monthly which I don't need. I am using a dumb 2G phone for almost 10 years now and I pre pay just 60 Baht per YEAR just to keep the number. The package is to top up any amount even 20 Baht and I can keep the number for one year. I don't use phone most of the days as I use wifi in another mobile devices.

So is dtac going to stop the 2G? AIS stopped I think. What did you do with your 2G phones? Should I just buy a new smart phone for a few thousand Baht and go to dtac to take a new tiny sim card so I don't have to change anything?