CMBob

Renewed my US passport here this past December and used the bank draft option for both the renewal fee and the 100 baht return mailing fee; however, checking the Embassy website info, the bankdraft option for the renewal fee isn't available anymore (although one still has to go get a bankdraft for the 100 baht return mailing fee). Would obviously be helpful simply to allow a credit/debit card for both fees and that'd eliminate the need to go get a bankdraft. And, yea, anybody without a workable credit/debit card apparentlyl simply can't renew their US passport here.

Ignore....double post

And I'm so sad that you poor devils in Nong Hay (ones anywhere near the Ping river) need a kayak to get around. As to the prior poster's question, absent some big rains or water flows from the north, you'll have zero problem getting to the airport.

Was down at Worarot an hour ago and, while the river is high and looking angry (photo attached), saw no flooding near there (or as far down both Charoen Prathet and Chang Klan as I could see from Thaphae Road. But still significant flooding farther south. But understand the Mae Tang river basin is jammed full and the water is heading this way....and apparently they expect the river to rise some more. Hopefully not too much.

Based on what I read, the highest level of Thailand's foreign reserves was 245 billion (US) during 2022 and the balance was still 215 billion (US) as of this September (2022). The sky is not falling and I'd hardly call that decrease "well down."

This past fall (after converting from visa exempt to a Non-O visa) I opened an account at Bangkok Bank here in CM without any hassle at all. Just had to present my passport with the Non-O stamp along with my local address and local telephone number (no need for a residency certificate, work permit, agent, or anything else).

There's a leather shop in Maya Mall that will do that. I've also seen a "belt" place by Worarot that made belts but I'm not sure if those are real leather. I've seen others over the years but don't recall where they are.

https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/[email protected]/bookings/

As I understand it from various historical texts, all of the walls and gates were pretty much destroyed by the Burmese (and likely destroyed by the many attempts of the Siamese to retake the city during the couple hundred years of occupation by the Burmese) and the walls and gates were rebuilt by the Siamese appointed Lanna King Kawila in and after 1801. I really doubt that there is anything that we have seen standing would date prior to 1800 (and most of what we've seen was likely built well after 1900).

Yep, and reads as follows: Chang Phuak Gate This gate, located on the northern wall of the city, dates back to the year 1296 when King Mangrai founded Chiang Mai. The name of the gate was originally Hua Wiang because, according to traditional belief, the head (hua) of the city (wiang) was located in this direction. Under King Saen Muang Ma (1385-1401), the White Elephant (Chang Phuak) Monument was erected outside the gate to the north. The name of the gate was thereafter changed to Chang Phuak Gate. Prior to the coronation, new Kings ceremoniously entered the city through this gate. The gate was reconstructed in the years around 1800 and was completely rebuilt between 1966-1969.

Not that it matters but think the names are Aod & Dan.

Might also be a cooking school......

Couple questions: (1) Does one need to go through the outside inspection-of-documents line if one has an appointment? (2) It seems the appointment system only allows appointments for the next 30 days (or slightly less). Is that correct?

As has been noted, it appears the daughter went to Phuket for fun and then flew back to Bangkok to board her international flight and that's where the overstay problem occurred. But I too bet she was stamped in with her UK passport as that's the only thing that makes sense. Without that happening, there is no way for Immigration to know let alone calculate the amount of days in an overstay. And, yea, there is no way the daughter entered Thailand only with a Thai ID card. OP.....given you've doubted that, why not return to the thread to advise when you view your daughter's passport?

I was in the same boat as the OP.....my retirement extension based on retirement expired while I was essentially trapped back in the states for 16 months due to the covid junk and, although nothing on the bank letter or current bank book reflected that the money originally came from overseas (arrived 12+ years ago), perhaps CM Immigration either didn't care about the "overseas" requirement or essentially waived it due to seeing I had been getting annual extensions for more than a decade based on those funds (the current bank book copies I used only covered a few years). I suspect the OP won't have a problem either with the supposed "overseas" requirement.

The 90-day Non-O you will get will not start at the end of your 45-day visa exempt period but rather within about 10 days of the time you actually apply. I applied on or about September 28th and, even though I didn't actually get the stamp until about October 19th, the Non-O had a start date of October 8th. So I'm guessing the beginning date is the date it's approved in Bangkok (or, perhaps, when CM Immigration gets it done after Bangkok approval)? So OP, if you apply (let's say) November 18th, you will on that date get a paper stapled into your passport that essentially says you're on a 21-day waiting period (it signals the date you come back to get the actual Non-O visa stamp). But I would bet that the Non-O stamp you get will have a beginning date of of about November 28th, thus technically giving you until about February 28th (or so, I'm not counting the days) to do your annual extension. And, if February 28th is the ending date, then you could go to CM Immigration 45 days before that to apply for your annual extension based on retirement on or after January 17th (or perhaps the prior Friday depending on the exact ending date). So sounds like it'll work out fine for your mentioned schedule.

With respect to Nok Air's website, I tried just yesterday to fill in some dates and got the same non-working situation the OP mentions. I'm guessing it's a temporary problem as I know it was working a week or two ago. OP, try again (maybe they've fixed it).

Having converted from visa exempt to a Non-O less than a year ago here in Chiangmai: (1) You don't need any insurance (it's only needed for entries based on Non-OA visas) if entering visa exempt. I'm not 100% sure whether you need insurance for a single-entry tourist visa. (2) You do not need to get an extension; however, here in Chiangmai, you need a minimum of 21 days remaining on your exempt time period. Since OP will be entering with a 45-day exemption, he will have plenty of time (but still advised to go within a few days of entry so that there is time in case any problem arises). I know that many/most immigration offices only require 15-days remaining to convert but CM requires 21 days (perhaps because paperwork/approval for all conversions must go through Bangkok?). (3) Here in Chiangmai you can apply for one's annual extension based on retirement 45 days before the expiration date of your Non-O (or 45 days before expiration of an annual extension thereof). That's been the rule here for more than 10 years.

OP....just go to the US Embassy website and it's explained there what you need, how to do it, etc. Absent certain circumstances, you'll have to do it by mail to the Embassy in Bangkok (but, like others have said, you can expect to have your new and old passports back along with the letter you reference in 2-3 weeks at maximum). A lot faster to get it done here if you have the time.

I can understand your angst at the additional tests they required of you but, once you learned that you couldn't only get the one hearing test, why not simply decline at that point in time? But I am happy the cashier met your inquiry with silence (totally unfair to think the cashier could have explained or changed hospital policy).

If you entered (or converted in-country) to a Non-O Immigrant Visa, the answer is "no"; however, if you entered with the Non-OA, then "yes." You can check other threads for the insurance requirements.

Hopefully you didn't.....but trust you'll post here by the end of the week as to whether you got the approval (in spite of accidentally hitting the dreaded "x") or what they told you when you make the long trek to Immigration.

OP, as noted by others, what your received after you filed was simply a notice that you successfully submitted the report (not that it was approved). As you note, you know it's approved when you get the email (with new Receipt of Notification attached) and/or when you check online for a pending report and it tells you that you're approved. But you say you went and checked before you got the approval notice and clicked on the big "X." My bet is you cancelled your report and, as you're still within the 7 day window after a due date to do a report in person, you might want to consider doing that to avoid a problem and fine (unless you somehow get an emailed approval in the interim).

That's exactly what it is (it's what I call my "visa account" and I have never used it to spend for living expenses......although I have a couple of times lowered it a bit due to interest piling up in the account).

When I went to my bank (SCB) here in Chiangmai in December, 2021, for the annual extension information, I got two separate documents: (1) The standard old bank letter as in prior years that details my name, passport number, bank account number, and amount on that day in the account, and (2) A separate document that details the amount in the account for one year. Edit: I had never seen #2 document before (in over a decade of doing annual extensions based on retirement and funds in the bank) but just presumed it had something to do with proving to Immigration that my account never dipped below the required amount during the year (which, of course, my bank book copies showed anyway). I don't remember the cost (typically it's been 200 baht annually) but it may have been a total of 300 baht as the one poster mentioned.