tim77

I and and my british boyfreind likes to get marry in Thailand?I am a Filipino and he is British..is it possible?please help us...

I (USA citizen) married my Filipina girl friend here a few years ago. It is much simpler to get legally married here than to do it in the Philippines. Once you get legally married here, you just go to the Philippine embassy on Sukumvite Road and they note the name change on your passport.

If you just have a ceremony here - even in a church - it is not a legal marriage, and will not be recognized by either the Thai government or the Philippine government or the UK. A ceremony is not necessay in Thailand. What is necessary is presenting the right paper work to the Thai officals. You can do it yourself. Just go to the web sites for the Philippine Embassy and the British Embassy.

I did not want to go through the frustration and hired a lawyer to make sure all of our papers were correct. I paid about THB 18,000. A friend of mine just did the same thing a month ago and it cost it about THB 16,000.

These changes only reflect cleaning up the visa walkers ( the non compliers with Immigration regulations ) and that is well overdue IMO.

JR Texas (51, USA): Reply to Dr. Pat Pong: I disagree with you. Until Thai Immigration decided to make it a problem, Thailand had no problem with people getting visa exempt stamps in their passports.

Each time these people obtained a visa exempt stamp they were checked for possible criminal behavior (4 times if you cross into Cambodia and back). They spent money in Thailand. They paid taxes when they purchased various products in Thailand. Many were supporting Thai citizens.

No, there was really no problem until they made it a problem. The changes had virtually nothing to do with crime, which was the original stated reason for the changes.

Your usage of words like "cleaning" and "overdue" tell me a lot about your thinking. You have your opinion. I have my opinion. I do not intend on getting into a debate with you.

JR . . . I very strongly agree with you. Even concepts such as "non-compilers" and "tip toeing" around the law are just plain silly. How can a person who shows up at a valid immigration check point, at noon, in a big bus, who twice walks up to a valid immigration official and presents his passport with his photograph on it - all in compliance with the law - be a "non-compiler" or "tip toeing"

The sad fact is that the application and the definition of the applicable law can not be relied on. There are no more 3 million baht investment visas because, allegedly, it is too easy for mafia influences to get a 3 million baht investment visa. A few Thai Embassies in some neighboring countries are clearly insulting or intimidating people who apply for tourist visas. The financial requirements for both retirement and marriage are changing. The 30 day visa exemption process (apparently made in 1979) has gone through so many clarifications and changes since mid-September that it is mind numbing.

And good luck to those who have bought houses using the corporate scheme that has been used for at least 15 years. Now all the Thai shareholdings in these companies may be subject to scrutiny. Oh yes, if the land is under 1 rai, the scrutiny will not be too strict for now. It is not even possible to guess if or when this scrutiny level will change. Then all of these compilers will become non-compilers, who should have know better.

I have just rented a home in another country. Sure I may come back for a visit. The truth is I like Thai people and I like Thailand, but I can not rely on the law here.

So, does the motel serve take-aways?

No take aways . . . strickly BYOB and then DIY.

I'd just like to report some good news.

My Filipino girlfriend and I had no problems getting 30 day extensions on our tourist visas today at the Jomtien Immigration Office.

Apparently you were very lucky with regard to the Tourist Visa for your Philippine girlfriend. I was in Manila in March this year with my Philippina girlfriend (I am living on Phuket) and we went to the Thai Embassy in Makati to enquire about a tourist visa for her. We received a little note with the requested papers. Until July we had ALL the papers together and she again went to the Embassy to apply for the Tourist Visa. And she was flatly denied this visa. As reason for the denial it was mentioned that she might "work"in Thailand.

We were quite upset. I absolutely can understand that the Thai Embassy does not want to issue Tourist Visas to Philippine girls. Buth then they should name it in the first place and not let the applicant run around and get all necessary papers and then make one look like an idiot.

It is the embassy in Makati that is the problem, not the fact that your girlfriend is a Filipina. The embassy in Makati may have the worst reputation in Asia as the place to get a tourist visa to Thailand. I am a U.S. citizen and I applied for a tourist visa at the Thai embassy in Makati. I was denied a visa because (i) I did not have a return ticket to Manila, even though I had a valid ticket to leave Thailand; and (ii) I did not have a seat booked on a flight from Manila to Bangkok, even though I had a valid ticket to travel from Manila to Bangkok.

A Filipina will get a 30 date visa waiver at the airport in Thailand. She can get a tourist visa in Malaysia.

can someone PM me on the text that needs to go into the stat dec for the Australian Embassy?

is there a format as i would like to type it out and then get it notorised at the embassy

thanks

Is this for a visa for Thailand, or a visa to go to Australia. As I recall Australia does require a declaration of support if you are sponsoring someone to go to Australia.

can someone PM me on the text that needs to go into the stat dec for the Australian Embassy?

is there a format as i would like to type it out and then get it notorised at the embassy

I have the sneaking suspicion that the text might depend on what you want to dec.

I searched the entire thread for “stat dec” and found nothing. Next, I searched for “declaration” and the only thing I found was “declaration of war” in a post by seri thai on 02.10.2006

---------------

Maestro

– “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place” _ George Bernard Shaw

My guess would be that a "stat dec" means statutory declaration. I don't have a clue what "statutory declaration" might be.

Does anyone know a travel agent in Pattaya who will sell a Tiger Air ticket.

The only charge card that I have used for many years is American Express, which is not acceptable to Tiger over the Internet.

I called Tiger and they advised that there they have no office in Thailand, where I can go and pay cash for a ticket. However, Tiger did say that a travel agent would be able to obtain a ticket for me. I have tried several travel agents, but so far no luck.

The U.S. Embassy is the best option if you need a notary.

To the best of my knowledge most Thai lawyer will notarize or put some sort of stamp on your documents. This may or may not be sufficient for U.S. purposes.

It is possible to have a U.S. law firm go to a Court in the U.S. and ask the Court to issue a Commission to a party outside for the U.S., whereby such person would be entitled to issue an oath acceptable to the Court that issued the Commission. This is an expensive proposition, and is generally used only for the purpose of U.S. litigation.

I need to get a 3 month visa, probably from the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, does anyone know how long this takes?

Is it a same day thing, next day or a few days?

And approx. cost.

About 9 months ago, I obtained a 60 days from Phnom Penh. I presented the passport in the morning of one day, and picked up the visa the next day.

Although the official was most courteous, I got the feeling that issuing tourist visa to foreigners was not to be taken for granted. I had to explain why I was temporarily staying in Thailand.

It might not be Thailand. The U.S. Patriots Act has caused U.S. financial instutions to be very careful in wiring money abroad. I really went through about a month of agony, six months ago in trying to wire USD 40,000 to Thailand.

One of the many beauties about being American is that you are raised under the "innocent until proven guilty" idea. We don't claim that someone is a crook and then wait to have him prove it otherwise. This is a cornerstone of the American legal system. During any legal proceeding, all participants simply are required to "swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth". Same that happens in the embassy. You sign a statement swearing the truth, and that is all that is required. It has nothing to do with "honesty monopolies" or better citizens. It's the American system that everyone is entitled to. If you're not American, then it doesn't apply to you. Get over it!

Legally speaking when arrested for a crime in the US, you are neither innocent nor guilty, you are a 'suspect'. You are not presumed innocent, otherwise there would be no authority to arrest. You aren't innocent until the case is closed and verdict of 'not guilty' is entered into the record. Same as in most countries.

You often hear Americans contrast their legal system with the 'Napoleonic Code' (early legal basis for French law and passed on to most Latin American countries today) in a manner that suggests Napoleonic law presumed guilt, but that's another myth. Even under period-perfect Napoleonic Code, the legal structure did not encode a de jure presumption of guilt, e.g., the juror's oath explicitly recommended that the jury not betray the interests of the defendants, and there was much attention paid to the means of defense.

Just another couple of great American myths.

You are utterly incorrect in your statement that in the United States the "presumption of innocence" is a myth. The United States Supreme Court has repeated and emphatically made it clear that the "presumption of innocence" is an essential part of the Due Process provisions of the 14th Amendment

to the United States Constitution.

I recognize that neither your comment nor my reply have anything to do with this topic. Still accuracy is important.

I am giving a lot of thought to the Philippines. Since I am married to a Filippina, visa stays are minimal problem and I am entitled to work simply by registering with the Department of Labor.

Phillipines has great beaches, but is a more frustrating and more dangerous place to live.

I'm beginning to feel that it's not really worth the effort to stay in Thailand.

Recently I've been thinking about the reasons for being in Bangkok and I can't really come up with a unique selling point!

. . .

Tired of reporting every 3 months to say that I'm still with my wife and kids. Tired of signing all rights away.

Perhaps I'm just jaded, but now that I just spent a bundle of cash to set up an IT consultancy company over here, it seems I might find it difficult to get a work permit to work there! I wasn't planning on any more assignments in Thailand anyway, but I need the WP and salary so I can continue to live with my wife and kids in our house (in her name).

Perhaps I'll chage my mind, but right now, I'm thinking the whole family is going to be moving, next time I get a contract outside Thailand.

A few weeks ago, someone (I can't remember who) wrote in this forum something along the following lines: "The big question is "What's Next".

Since the early part of September, there has been a maze of new laws, old laws that will be enforced, clarifications, re-clarifications, interpretations, re-interpretations, confirmations, meetings, etc. And all of this seemed to have some urgent need to be in effect by 1 Oct 06.

Like you, I am becoming increasing frustrated and concerned and am seriously considering putting the condo up for sale and relocating. My wife is relocating this week, and I may follow in the next few months.

Excitement might be fun in Los Vegas, but gambling with uncertain visa laws is not fun. To repeat the wisdom of the earlier poster "What's Next".

I think the Thai Embassy in Manila is the most frustrating government office I have ever had the misfortune to deal with.

For starters, it is absolutely impossible to learn what documents they require before a tourist visa is issued. There is a list on the wall, but it is incomplete.

As example, I am a 60 year old USA professional. At the embassy in Manila, I presented my passport, my K-bank book showing a balance of THB 70,000, my Title Deed showing that I owned a condo in Thailand, another title deed showing that my wife and I owned property in the Philippines, a valid one year open ticket leaving Thailand, photographs, etc.

I was denied a tourist visa because: (1) " did not have a return ticket from Thailand to the Philippines (my year open ticket to leave Thailand was to Singapore); (2) I bought the one year ticket more that five months before I applied for my tourist visa (the fact that it was still valid for another seven months, meant nothing); and, (3) because although I had a valid 60 day ticket to travel from Manila to Bangkok, I could not prove I had a confirmed seat (even though I offered to place a call to the airline, book a seat, and ask the airline to fax a letter confirming that I had a seat on a specific flight).

My advice to you is not to even try.

One easy solution is to buy a one year open ticket out of Thailand for say, Singapore. At the end of the year you - depending on the carrier from whom you purchased the one year open ticket - either throw the ticket away or redeem it for cash.

I only did the afternoon classes at Unity .... am unaware of price increases.

To the extent that I am off topic I apologize. For me, school commitments were not flexible enough. So I ordered and used the tapes from Audioforum (just do a Google search). The tapes (12 tapes in the basic course) and the written manual (with a professional quality phonetic system) were put together by the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, and are excellent. In addition to these you do need a Thai speaker, about once a week, to correct your pronunciation and clear up your misunderstandings. I found it easy to find someone who was able to meet me at my apartment.

The approach in the Audioforum is really good. There are repetition drills, response drills, substitution drills, etc. If you give it a good effort (say, a good hour per day, but two 30 minutes sessions are better) you should be able to master each lesson (20 lessons in the basic course) in about a week.

Try the Raja's Tailor that is located on Sukumvit soi 4 oppisite the Nana Hotel. I'm sure they are not associated with the Raja's on Sukumvit. I have used them for a number of things over the years and never a complant.

I have bought over 9 suits from the Raja's Tailor of Sukumvit Soi 4. They are excellent. I remember standing on a street corner in Taipei taking with 3 executives. All of us were wearing Raja's suits. This is a first class operation.

In Bangkok, you need two things: (1) yes to stay out of miserable areas; and (2) to stay in areas that are close to the sky train (which has really opened up Bangkok for residents and tourist alike) and good infrastructure (restaurants, shopping, etc).

For something in the THB 2,000 per night area, I recommend two hotels. Both are in the Sukumvite area, close to the skytrain and close to infrastructure.

The Majestic is almost on the corner of Sukumvite and Soi 4. The rooms are a bit small, but very clean. The staff goes out of their way to be helpful, and they speak relatively excellent English. The phone number is +66 2 656 8213. They have a more upscale hotel, the Majestic Grand which is in the same general area, but a bit more expensive. The Majestic has a web site.

The Dynasty Grande is on Sukumvite Soi 6. It is around THB 2,200 or 2,300 per night. It is brand new. The rooms are large, very clean, and comfortable. The claim it is a 4 star hotel, and I have no serious disagreement (the negative being the food in the restaurant is sometime good, sometimes not so tasty) with this. +66 2 255-1333. The staff is really nice here to, and they speak relatively excellent English.

Both of these hotels - especially the Majestic - are often fully booked. So it is wise to book early.

It would wrong for the Dynasty Hotel on soi 4 to get really negative comments. It is a budget hotel (say TJH 800 or 900 per night) and it seems to carter to men who like to frequent the bars on Soi 4 and bring bar girls back for the night. Yet, the staff tries to do a good job. It is now being upgraded.

A new Dynasty Grand has just opened on Soi 6, about a block from the old Dynasty of Soi 4. It is really excellent value for money. Very clean, great pool, big rooms, close to skytrain and many restaurants. About 4 star. The room prices are around THB 2,200 per night. My wife and I both think it is fine.

If you want to see something of Thailand, then I recommend the following:

1. The trip to Ayutthaya is excellent. All of the hotels can arrange this trip. Take the tour that goes by bus to Ayutthaya, and the boat back. You do not want to take the boat there, because the current is strong and the trip there takes forever. You will see some really interesting temples. As for the river, Thai life has always been linked to the river.

2. Wat Po and the Grand Palace are both in Bangkok. Yes, hire an English speaking guide. The small amount you will have to pay them is worth the price of their expertise.

3. For something of new and modern Thailand, go to the aquarium in the new Paragon shopping mall. Get off the skytrain at the Siam station and follow the sign to the Paragon shopping mall. The aquarium is really first class, and it is a good place to take photos.

4. PatPong . . .of course go there. It is very touristy now, but it is still world famous. It is safe to go there. All of the places on the street level are fine. Some of the places on the second floor should be avoided. Some of the places on the second floor over bill, and give you a very tough time.

My main advice to you is to stop worrying!

Forget about tax for a start; the only tax you will pay will be a 15% withholding deduction at source on bank interest. As you now have a ‘retirement visa’ you are prohibited from working, so paying income tax should not come into the equation.

As for a current account, the only account you are likely to get without a work permit (which de facto

Do not concern yourself any further; relax and enjoy your new home!

Be careful about forgetting tax . . . An individual who is present in Thailand for at least 180 days in any calendar year is treated as a resident of Thailand. As I understand it, tax residents are subject to Thai income tax on any income from foreign sources that they bring into Thailand. As I understand it, taxable income includes payment for services, dividends, interest, rental income, and most capital gain. You may wish to check with a Thai tax advisor.

Hi, I am going to Thailand this October, i'm from the Philippines.I would like to apply for a tourist visa because i don't like the go on a visa run every 30 days.When I talked to Thai embassy here, one requirment should bea palne ticket and hotel booking.You said that it is not required to have a return ticket if I hold a tourist visa, so this means that i only have to book for a one-way flight?Is this correct?

thanks

joan

It is impossible for a Filipina to fly out of the Philippines without a return ticket to the Philippines. Philippine immigration will not let you out of the country. So the Thai Embassy in the Philippines also adopts this requirement.

The Thai Embassy in Manila is one of the worst government offices that I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. I am an American citizen and I was denied a tourist visa from the Thai Embassy in the Manila because I did not have a return ticket to the Philippines. The fact that I had a valid one year open ticket out of Thailand to travel to Singapore was not regarded as sufficient.

Oh, the airlines are gonna love this! How are airlines supposed to know whether to board or not?

The airlines will have a simple solution. Either you have a visa, or you have a valid plane ticket out of Thailand.

Hands up who has lived in a Country through a Miliatary coup, before?

Not me. WOnder what will happen next...

Not much. TIT!

I have been through 2 coups in Thailand and one in the Philipines. Thailand's are much safer.

I have gone through a coup here and the Suharto collapse in Indonesia. This is an internal matter to the Thais, and will be resolved. Nothing to worry about. No major disruptions of anything will occur.

"I declare Bangkok under a severe state of emergency," Thaksin said in a voice broadcast on Thai television.

Thaksin, in New York at a

United Nations summit, ordered troops not to "move illegally," and told armed forces chiefs to report to acting Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya.

At least 20 soldiers entered the Government House building, according to reporters inside.

Army television broadcast images of the royal family and songs associated in the past with military coups.

Government officials said Thaksin, in the middle of a political crisis fomented by a street campaign against him, planned to return from New York early on Thursday, a day earlier than originally scheduled.