Saraburi121

Applied November 21 for the Wealthy Pensioner and was approved December 23rd. BOI appointment in early January. Used US Military retirement pay, VA disability pay and local insurance. No issues with the process. No more trying to hit a moving goal with my provincial immigration!

Agree you should not have any problems but some offices give you the run around, what was good last year is not good this year. KK is nice, visited there several times and enjoyed the visits.

Very true comment. Immigration is not a deciding factor but a consideration.

Thinking about moving and one of our notes about moving within Thailand is a "user friendly" immigration when it comes to marriage extensions. We keep much above the 400K so that is not a problem. One of our considerations about moving is a friendly immigration when it comes to marriage extensions, not retirement extensions, marriage extensions. Married 10 years together just want a change. Not looking at Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Phuket or Krabi. Any input based on personal experience especially over multiple years would be appreciated.

The article seems based on speculation and click bait subjects. Read the article a few times and seemed to be an opinion piece, not news. No facts to back up assumptions. The statement "Elderly retirees (Thai or other country?) acting privilege over local people because of their superior wealth" then go into a few paragraphs down without transition to those that can't afford healthcare? Thailand will never become close to being Singapore is what it seems to be gearing for. It seems the things that attracted people to Thailand are diminishing such as street food and no hassle. Who needs another Tokyo, Honolulu or Singapore, just go there! Hawaii has better beaches, Tokyo nightlife or Singapore safety. In any of the aforementioned places less danger on the road. I don't live in Pattaya but here are my opinions: -"Elderly retirees enacting privilege over local people because of their superior wealth". I find that expat retirees (some not elderly) where I live are supportive and active in the community. I find it to be the exact opposite of what the author stated where I live and those acting privilege are not foreigners. -As far as "Thai lawyers these days deal more these days with post-mortem probate than about how to get married here" goes to previous regimes success about keeping families together plus keeping money in the country. A few more generalizations that are not worth responding to but the overweight go-go dancers comment made me laugh. Must have been on Soi 6 doing research lol! This must be just a Pattaya problem for sure.

The most true post in this thread. Sad but true in recent years that the restrictions are ridiculous. It is a shame the troops are not allowed to go out and have good time. Did Cobra Gold from the late 90's to 2006. First CG in Lop Buri and had a blast! Best times were at small exercises in Isaan and Chanthaburi, good folks, great food, beer and beautiful women! Got to see a lot of the country and met my wife here. Retired and settled in Thailand now. Laugh every year when Cobra Gold comes around the Pattaya crawlers become nervous like the OP, scared of a little competition?

Because it has the words “Irish Coffee” written on the glasses.

Bought a pair of Jameson Irish Coffee Glasses in Malacca, Malaysia about 12 years ago at a street sale. Did a google search and didn't find any photos that matched. Wonder how old these glasses are and if they are worth anything? They are still serving their intended purpose.

It will take a generation of education to change the driving culture if it was started today, especially motorcycle safety. A well paid and educated police force to enforce rules would be a start, cameras on major routes are not going to solve it although seems to have helped. National roads are being improved and made better every day which takes care of the engineering part. In the last few years seen a lot improvements in road engineering and blocking U turns on major highways, kudos! Took a relative to the local government hospital for an emergency the other night and was a steady stream of vehicle/motorcycle accident victims coming in to a small provincial hospital. Inexcusable.

That is awesome to hear and the way a visit for a marriage extension should go. Very nice that they provide a guide as well, makes life easier for both parties. As with everything regarding extensions experiences vary by office/province.

In my experience in the province I live marriage extensions are made difficult with all kinds of curveball’s to discourage those eligible from applying. When my office sees I have over 800k seasoned they push really hard for me to do a retirement extension and I say no thank you. Then the the fun starts. Nothing that can’t be overcome but just frustrating making multiple trips to a print shop and immigration. Always hit with small admin corrections which I still have the corrections from last year telling me to do it that way.

It's always a joy when the time of year comes to extend the marriage visa. Nice scenic 1.5 hour one way drive to the new office which is a really nice new place. This extension was the same as the other marriage extensions at this office, full of flip flops from the last and new rules not posted anywhere. Doing due diligence as one should before attempting a task as monumental as a visa extension asked the wife to check the Saraburi Immi website and same same except for pictures of the glorious accomplishments. Its the same pressure to ask you why you don't want to do a retirement extension as before( I'm over 50), my answer is I have a job pending. Which I do but just haven't found it yet. What do the offices get out of retirement extensions? To those who say they never had an issue at this office please denote if you were doing a retirement or marriage extension in your reply, big difference at this office. Retirement extensions are greeted with great enthusiasm. To those who have no problem at their provincial immi office please let me know your province and how many pain free years you have been doing your marriage extension, maybe move there. -Last 90 day I did in person (90 day online never has worked for me, mail works) since I was in the area and I was told explicitly to come at the 30 day mark before expiry of the marriage extension when the IO looked at my passport. Since the 30 day mark was on the weekend showed up today (Monday) and went through the information desk which looked at my passport studiously and said give your information to the IO when she calls you. First thing said by the officer is you have to come at 7 days before your extension expires not 30 days before. Contentious subjects such as the "come back at the 7 day before" was only spoken in Thai to my wife and I appreciated the officer not wanting to make me stress. I do understand a little Thai but didn't want to cause a fuss and continued to listen. Wife asked why and response "rule change". Can we come before and leave papers? No was the answer. Called the 1178 hotline afterward to see if there was some major rule change but was told each office can make up their own rules which I fully understand after 5 extensions at this office. Return date just happens to fall on our 10th wedding anniversary which we were talking about spending on a beach in Koh Kood, good thing we didn't make reservations. Love Saraburi but doesn't quite have the beaches or ambiance that Koh Kood does. Anyway the kind officer did review our package so everything would be ship shape for when we come back. Reminded me a lot of being in primary school with the teacher you hated that made those big pen marks on your paper of your wrong answers. -Four extensions I filled out the entire TM.7 and signed on the front and back. Guess Immi never noticed I was doing it wrong all this time but was corrected. My wife was instructed to fill in and sign the back side of the TM.7 when we come back on the blocks that say "This application written by", address info and a signature by author (writer) Crazy that all those years I filled out the TM.7 I thought the application written by was me and I was applying? If my wife on a marriage extension application form TM.7 has to fill out the back side kind of verifying my address since we live in the same house isn't that kind of like a TM.30? Learn something new every day. -My photos were 4mm smaller in width portrait format than was accepted last year as detailed by the same officer, rejected. Wish my eyesight was that good. Have to print some new ones for next time and break out the ruler. I really want to ensure Immi knows we are living together so next time I will take about 50 pages in different formats so they can see in every way we are still together. Maybe a few pictures from the drone so they can be entertained by my photography excellence. Second thought is save the drone entertainment for the home visit. -photo copies of passport pages have to be in portrait 2.5 inches down from the top of the paper (illustration of the correction of my mistake attached) Can't be in landscape. Maybe its to tiring to flip the page around or flip the view if it's scanned. Whatever I can do to make the job easier! -another thing that caught me by surprise was told not to date the TM.7. If we didn't date it wouldn't that negate any proof that I submitted on time? Shouldn't it be stated on the form "leave blank" so there would be no confusion? -I did do something right this year. Didn't sign anything beforehand in blue ink and left space on any document do put the stamp for signature on photo copied documents. For reference photo attached. No rejection for wrong font on the the TM.7 this year. I took a TM.7 home last time from immigration last time and photocopied. -On a good note the professional lady at the Kasikorn Bank in Wang Muang was well versed in getting the required bank letter and statement printout. Kudos to the small branch! She didn't look at me like I had three eyeballs when my wife asked for the documents. Took all of 10 minutes. I have kept copious notes from each visit and had the same officers contradict what they asked for before. Pre visits to verify documents are worthless and I chunked my notes in the trash, too many rule changes.

Same here, we have in abundance. We send boxes of papaya via Thai post to my wife's friends and family in Bangkok due to the high price of papaya there. Thai post gives us a discount for shipping produce and it is very cheap, arrives in 2 days max from here in Central Thailand. Ridiculous how expensive it is at stores in larger metropolitan areas. In our village like you mentioned we can't give them away.

Where do you buy it at?

I just hope Soi 6 survives, never made it down to Walking Street much anyway.