buick

i used a Foreign Currency Account at Bangkok Bank to support my extensions at CW. all they require is the bank letter confirming the balance. no statement. maybe other offices are different.

if i initiate a SWIFT transfer on Mon or Tues night BKK time, it's in my BKK account by the time i wake up in the morning - very quick. once i did it on Thurs night and it didn't make it by Fri am (arrived Monday). one of the banks involved wanted to hold that money over the weekend ! this is USA to BKK. my SWIFT transfers are free (long time customer at Wells Fargo). as to the broader topic, i've never noticed an intermediary. my BKK account is at Bangkok Bank HQ on Silom Raod.

leaving via the airport, paying the fine, and finding a new spot to stay is a good option. it may also be possible to find an agent that can clear an overstay and provide a Non Imm O plus extension based on retirement. this would be an expensive option.

would appreciate a reference to one of the 'safe entry services', i did a search in the forum but didn't have much success (saw this thread). this is for a friend (you can laugh but it is true), he's entered twice visa exempt and has done the 30 day extension on both. a few months ago i started a thread about a guy who was looking for a visa of some sort to stay long term to assist his father - who had a medical event and was in a nursing home in Pattaya area. the father passed on not long after i started that thread. the son is still here and would like to stay some more. i told him he should use the safe entry service for next visa run. he's planning on another visa exempt + 30 day extension. any help is appreciated. thanks.

i was hoping to update the thread at some point with regard to the immigration clause 2.25, was the Son able to get a letter from doctor and get 90 day stays, etc... unfortunately, the update is the Father passed away this morning. thanks again for the input.

right, i did tell him about the safe entry and informed him of carrying cash and a flight out in order to minimize risk of getting denied entry. obviously safe entry is a great option if he decides to try one more visa exempt.

he has done the first 60+30, flew to Hanoi, and is now on his 60 day. will do the +30. so he's got some time as he just returned from Hanoi this week. when he returned, the IO told him he needed a visa so that got this ball rolling, being new to thailand, he wasn't well versed on the 'rules'. probably time for the METV. but he'll talk with the nursing home staff to see about this immigration clause 2.25 discussed herein.

the son is a teacher in the US. university degree in education. at some point, he may consider a teaching position in thailand but that decision is a ways out. the father had a stroke and can't talk so not much for the son to do except sit with his dad for a couple hrs a day. he will need something to keep himself occupied at some point. he's been here a little over 90 days now.

the father had a stroke and isn't able to talk. his desires are unknown, although friends suggest he'd prefer to stay in Thailand based on conversations they had on this topic over the years. he's been in thailand for 20+ years.

the son is a teacher in the US. has a university degree in education. he took leave to help with his father. it's probably a little early to jump on the Elite visa.

thanks for the addtl info on the immigration clause. the son will be following up with the nursing home staff soon. he was a bit surprised at how quickly immigration put him on notice: 'you need visa'. but most of us here on this site are not surprised. the Father had a stroke. a maid found him in his room, he'd been in there for a couple days. he can't really talk, was on a feeding tube for weeks, now off the tube. he does recognize his son and a close friend that is here, he was able to say the friend's name. if this clause won't apply, the METV seems to be a fairly simple solution.

i don't want to get too far off track here but i thought i add recent experience of mine. i had some issues with anxiety attacks a couple years ago. long story short, i went to the ER twice in the USA and once in Bangkok. i've got good insurance in the USA, the ER visit cost me $400 each time in USA - insurance covered the rest (i think the total charge was $2,000+/- for each visit). in Bangkok at Bumrungrad, the visit cost 12,000thb, no insurance. roughly the same as USA with insurance. in all three cases, nothing major was done, told me i was fine.

as i understand it, the family (siblings of the father) are assisting financially and i believe the father has a Trust of some sort that assists also. their financial status is superior to that of the son and perhaps could support the son in one way or another. so i'll say son's financial status is limited but the overall family is solid. the medical issue hasn't created a financial problem for the the Father and/or the Family. it sounds like the staff at the nursing home might be able to prepare a document that would help the son qualify for 90 day stay(s) under the cited immigration clause. if i'm reading that right. i'll have to see what discussions he's had with the folks at the nursing home.

the nursing home could be just outside Pattaya, i think he's been in two of them so far.

he'd have to fly back to USA but that might be his best option and perhaps a trip back home for a bit is something that would happen anyway.

right, the nursing home must have some experience with this situation and how folks handle it. so far, i think the son was planning on the visa exempt route but the IO asked him some questions when he arrived back in country after a 'visa run' so starting to think ahead now. i was thinking bringing this medical info to show the IO might help future entries, at least for a little while. maybe he could make a year out of it. a little over three months so far. as you note, maybe this can help get him connected to the Non O in some way via the local immigration office. thanks for the comments.

i did not think of that one so i'll bring that up. i did mention the METV, which wouldn't be too onerous to obtain.

that might be possible at some point, but right now it's not feasible. the son may be able to keep rolling with visa exempt entries and bring along some paperwork related to his father's situation - help explain to the IO why he's here, making 'visa runs'.

the recovery could be years. moral support/seeing a friendly face is likely all the son can do at this point but perhaps more at certain stages of the recovery. but for now, he can't do much except make sure his father is getting what he needs on a daily basis. it sounds like the nursing facility is doing a good job so far.

a US citizen who is on an annual extension (retirement) from a Non O had a medical event and will be in a nursing home for long term recovery. his son (age 35) has arrived to assist his father, used visa exempt entry plus extension and now on his second visa exempt entry. is there a Visa that might be a available to him ? perhaps his father needs to change to some type of Medical visa that might offer a related Dependent visa ? i don't think he can get a dependent under the Non O retirement due to his age. any thoughts on this are appreciated, the father is in Pattaya.

i knew to use the re-entry permit number - but i couldn't tell from the scrawled numbers what is was. i just left the visa info blank. seemed to be ok, no problems. i also left the accommodation section blank. i never saw it as i filled out the form but when i saw my completed form at the end, i saw that part was empty. no problems without that info. edit: i now see other comments about leaving visa number blank if using re-entry permit. thanks.

ok, thanks. that is good to know. can keep phone in my pocket next time.

i arrived on May 7 from USA via Korea (suvarnabhumi). before going up the ramp to the passport check area, a gal asked if i had done my TDAC. i said 'yes'. she directed me up the ramp. she didn't look at the TDAC on my phone. nor did the immigration officer (he also did not look at my boarding pass - also on my phone). i was never asked for the TDAC. i went through the priority lane (business class). maybe they are focused on the higher volume entry lane.

i paid 500thb for that route quite a few times via private car taxi. 364thb is a bargain.

i'd go with Emirates. i've got a trip i'm setting up soon. i'm looking at the 2:00am dep (BKK) and arrive JFK 2:25pm (both flights on A380). return is dep JFK at 11:20am, arrive BKK at 6:55pm (both flights A380). 2.5 hr layover and one hour 45 minutes for the other one.