Jim7777

If you receive any monthly pensions or income of at least 65K Baht a month you’re good but if not it’s probably best to leave and apply for a new retirement visa and start over if the 800K is your only option based on your personal situation.  

19 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Extension based on Retirement is independent of your relationship. If anything happens its not effected. Its issued "on the spot"

 

Based on Marriage has more paperwork, lower financials, is "under consideration" for 30 days, paperwork forwarded to Bangkok and you return after 30 days for the visa. If the relationship ends so does that visa. You will need to make alternate arrangements.

 

Until the recent changes in the financial area, the "Retirement" option was generally deemed, quicker, easier cleaner etc and was a preference of the Immigration Offices as it was less paperwork for them and done "on the spot".

 

Assess your own circumstances as to which is probably better.  Bare in mind, things can and do change here at short notice. There will also be slight variations required at different offices.

That is true the Retirement extension is less paperwork and faster.  I’m considering maybe switching to a retirement visa when I hit the big 50 because of the reasons you stated.  And financially I qualify for either visa retirement or marriage I’m married to a Thai citizen and actually retired for real but I’m just a little bit under 50 years old.  But I don’t know I don’t really mind all the paperwork since it’s just once a year.  

Ask Ubonjoe he’ll know for sure!!!  But I don’t think they’re going to give you a 60 day extension if you’re a 4 day overstay of course I could be wrong but I don’t know.  I’m pretty sure they won’t give you a 60 extension but you really should ask Ubonjoe first like right now because the clock is ticking.  

So far it’s only 4 days so you shouldn’t be in too much trouble yet but I think you need to leave the country immediately and then get a new visa and then come back.  

BUT PLEASE FOR YOUR OWN SAKE ASK UBONJOE!!!  He’s more than an expert on this stuff and he knows more than anyone on this forum about these things.  I’ve been here for 5 years and I still ask him for advice on things I’m still learning little things and I’ve been here for almost 5 years now.  In fact he just gave me one little piece of advice today that’s gonna save me a lot of money.  For example I had been doing my monthly wire transfers in Thai Baht and having my United States Bank do the currency conversion before sending it to my Thai bank account every month but I asked Ubonjoe about my screwy exchange rate today and I found out that I’ve been losing a lot of money by doing my transfers that way.  I learned just from that little piece of advice to do my transfers in USD and when my Thai bank converts the money to Baht I’ll get a MUCH BETTER EXCHANGE RATE!  I really felt dumb just now learning that.  I know all the immigration stuff now mostly but it’s the little things that you learn with time and experience.  

Ubonjoe has been giving me advice for years and trust me HE IS ALMOST NEVER WRONG!  He gives good advice that’s literally worth money to visa agents for free and he’s more than willing to do it.  I fully trust Ubonjoe for advice on stuff like this.  

So trust me send Ubonjoe a PM and ask him.  But I think you should leave the country as soon as possible and get a new visa at the Thai Consulate maybe in Savannakhét or wherever and then return to Thailand.  AND IN THE FUTURE MAKE SURE THAT YOU APPLY FOR YOUR EXTENSION BEFORE YOUR VISA OR CURRENT EXTENSION EXPIRES!!!!!  VERY VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE LIVING HERE!  I always renew mine at least 30 days early BEFORE it expires.  

But I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU ASK Ubonjoe about this!  Because I’ve never been in your situation before and he knows a million times more about this than I do.  

Please talk to Ubonjoe and then act upon this with a good plan ASAP!!!!!!!  I am trying to help and that’s your best bet but you must act very quickly!!!!!  

7 minutes ago, fforest1 said:

For now at least..

Uhh yeah he’ll be fine if he’s a retired officer he might make more than I do per month.  But I don’t know I’m 21 years retired and a 100% Disabled Veteran which is more than 180K Baht a month for my pension payments.  A little more than $6,000 USD a month.  I’m not sure what he makes and it varies from person to person depending on the rank you retired at, disability, and other variables.  Plus COLA raises and the last two years we received huge COLA raises.  

But I know it’s a tough life being retired LMAO ????.  

I know it’s just endless suffering for those of us who are RETIRED. ????????????????????????????

Being retired is so tough man I’m thinking about going back to work, NOT. ????????????????????????????

22 hours ago, Thailand said:

Although the 800K equates to the same and is a means of support you basically cannot use it.

 

The 65K per month can be spent immediately, how much sense does that make?

I agree you should be able to spend your 800K as you please but the reasoning behind it is that your 800K is theoretically all your money for the whole year so they want to make sure you still have funds available throughout the year.  The monthly income can be spent as we please because you have money coming in every month that’s theoretically supposed to be guaranteed every single month.  I get paid once a month for example, and it is guaranteed.  

If you’re going by the 800K Baht method that’s theoretically your money for the whole year and basically they want to make sure that you didn’t spend it all in one day or something.  Or transfer it out of Thailand more likely.  The monthly income can be spent as you please because you are supposed to be getting paid every month it’s as simple as that.  

So actually it makes perfect sense even though I agree with you that you should be allowed to spend your money as you please regardless of what method you use.  I would never transfer my savings over here or go by the 800K option because I agree it’s too complicated.  

Lucky I receive monthly pension payments of more than 180K per month so I will always go by the monthly International wire transfers every month (my monthly income) it’s easier, you don’t lose that much if the exchange rate happens to be having a low month for the USD, and because that’s the money I really do live on my monthly pension payments.  And no one is going to tell me when and how much of my money I can spend.  So I would never use that option.  Actually for me it would only be 400K minimum even though I am retired here but I’m on a marriage visa regardless I will always go by my monthly income even if I ever decided to switch to a retirement visa.  But I agree the rules for the 800K method are a bit too intrusive.  That’s why I will always go by my monthly income transferred into my Thai bank account.  

If you're getting paid every month then there’s no reason for them to check your balance ever so often or every 3 months or whatever it is because your account will be replenished once a month no matter how much you spend.  Although when you renew your retirement OR marriage extension you better be able to show 12 full months of transfers for every month into your Thai bank account at least 12 full months of transfers by next year from what I understand, I believe this year they are supposedly making exceptions because of the transition period away from the income affidavits.  

If you are using the 800K method that’s your money for the entire year in one lump sum theoretically.  That’s how immigration sees it at least regardless of your financial situation so it actually does make perfect sense even though I don’t agree with the rules for the 800K method for retirement extensions.  I think what you do with your 800K is your business.  But I’m lucky I don’t have to worry about that as a monthly pensioner.  If you get paid monthly why would they need to verify your balance every 3 months but I do understand your point it’s YOUR MONEY and you should be able to spend it as you please when you please.  So I’m not disagreeing with you but that’s just the logic behind it and their logic does make sense regardless of whether or not I agree with it.  If you’re theoretically using all your money for the entire year then they watch it to make sure that you have money throughout the year.  

If you are getting paid a monthly pension every month then there’s no reason for immigration to keep an eye on it except for the once a year when you renew your extension, and that’s basically their logic which does make sense.  But again I do agree your money is your money and no one should be allowed to tell you when and how much you can spend.  Although their logic behind it does make sense if you look at it objectively.  But again I do agree that you should be allowed to spend your 800K if you go by that option as you please it’s your money.  If you consider their logic behind it then it does make perfect sense love it or hate it.  

10 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

FYI .... Whilst the OP's son is in the custody of the police in Hau Hin he would be allowed to have his phone and make calls so long as the phone has enough charge and credit.  Once he is transferred to the iDC in central Bangkok all his possessions will be taken away, including his phone.

 

If a detainee wishes to make a phone call there are 'pay phones' available that use special tokens.  The tokens are obtained from the admin office and the cost of the tokens are debited against the detainees account.  No money in the account means no token and hence no phone call.

 

The reason for taking away detainees phones is to prevent detainees taking photos of the inside of the IDC.  Something that the authorities don't want circulating on social media.

Okay that at least sounds like it’s probably right.  Maybe the conditions aren’t so bad until they are transferred to the Central IDC facility.  That sounds a little more accurate based on what I’ve heard and read on this forum.  

9 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

So how do detainees make calls or contact if their phones are not with them?

I’ve seen reports actually on this forum from people literally inside Immigration Detention posting about it and saying that they were currently in there at the moment they posted.  I saw one guy on here from somewhere in Europe I forgot which country he was from posting on the forum from inside an Immigration Detention cell.  He actually posted a picture of what he referred to as “the prison room” he was currently in.  Well, the picture he posted of his “prison room” looked more like a college dormitory room.  I even remember commenting that his so called “prison room” looked better than some of the living conditions for a lot of Thai people.

Again I don’t know about IDC I’ve never been there I live here legally and I’ve never known anyone who’s been in there.  All I know about IDC is what I’ve seen posted online.  And it doesn’t sound like the conditions in IDC are that bad at all, nothing at all like an actual Thai prison which is really horrible.  But I don’t know maybe IDC has different facilities maybe some of their facilities are better and maybe some aren’t so nice.  I’ve only seen a few reports online about IDC, and I’ve never heard that it’s like a real Thai prison.

I do know that Thai prisons really are everyone’s worst nightmare but I’ve seen a lot posted about IDC that didn’t seem that bad and I’ve read a lot of posts from people actually in IDC who still had their cell phones with them actually inside the IDC cell.  

It didn’t sound like the Hilton or the Marriott or any place I’d want to be but it didn’t at all sound like how 007 Red described it, but like I said I don’t know how IDC works if you end up in that system so I could be wrong.  I just know what I’ve seen people post in the forum actually from inside Immigration Detention.    I at least do know that there have definitely been people inside IDC who had their smartphones, that is at least true for sure.  I can’t personally speak to what it’s like in there because I’ve never been in there but I have seen reports that are very different from what 007 Red described.  

The answer to your question is that their phones are with them, I’ve actually read posts on this forum from people posting from inside Immigration Detention.  But of course there maybe different IDC facilities with different rules I don’t know that’s not exactly something I keep up with lol are the conditions in Immigration Detention.  

No surprise they did confirm back in either November or December that income affidavits would be accepted for six months after the date of completion.  I remember back then no one seemed to want to believe that for some reason.  

But people better be prepared for after the income affidavits are phased out after about probably June this year and start transferring monthly income into a Thai bank account.  The income affidavits only have about two more months validity three months tops at best so it’s time to be prepared and do the monthly wire transfers into your Thai bank account every month to be prepared for that.  

31 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said:

To dial Thailand from everywhere outside it's "+66" and delete the first "0" of the number.

This thread is about 20 hours old so hopefully he’s figured that out by now on his own but if not it’s on here for him.  

22 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said:

To dial Thailand from everywhere outside it's "+66" and delete the first "0" of the number.

Yes that’s right but I just don’t know how you dial out overseas from the UK.  In the States it’s 001 66 and the rest of what you said it’s probably a little different in the UK.  But if he has a problem he can always dial the operator and ask for help.  Oh and by the way the British Embassy said that if he calls the 02070081500 phone number then it’s a free overseas call.  If I remember right that’s what she told me at the British Embassy when I called and asked earlier.  I believe it’s also the direct line for UK citizens that have been detained here.  Or he can call 02-305-8333 and push 141, it’s 4 for emergencies.  

57 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

If the son has a smartphone and is operational then the parent should be able to communicate with him at least via email to ascertain what's what. Assuming parent has son's email address and vice-versa.

Yes I’ve read reports about people who were actually posting FROM INSIDE THE IDC facility with their smartphones.  I don’t know much about IDC except for what I’ve read online and heard but he still might possibly have his phone in there.  

17 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said:

If this is the number of the British embassy in Thailand please call:

+66 2070081500 or +66 23058333

Yes it is but remember he’s a parent calling from the UK, I don’t know how you dial it from the UK but I’m sure he can figure it out.  If you know go ahead and let the OP know how to call it from the UK, I’m sure the OP is probably pretty stressed right now understandably.  

6 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

Sorry Jim7777 but the picture that you have of the IDC in Bangkok could not be further from the truth.  It is more that your worse nightmare and somewhere that frankly you would not wish your worse enemy to be incarcerated.

 

Detainees are packed 30 to 40 in a small room which has an open squat toilet at one end. There is a ceiling fan, but no air conditioning in the room.  Detainees sleep on the bare floor in head to toe formation next to one another with little or no room to move.  The smell in the detention rooms is overpowering.  There are communal showers and detainees are allowed one per day. Food is basic to say but the least and tends to comprise rice plus a soup twice a day.  Medical facilities are extremely basic and if the detainee requires any medication they will have to pay for them.  Detainees are not allowed any personal possessions whilst in the IDC e.g. mobile phones or money etc.  Visitors are only allowed by appointment and then the visitor and detainee are separated in an open yard by two fences approximately a meter apart - no privacy. 

 

The photos that you referred to in your post are most likely the temporary detention facility at the airport and these are quite different from the main IDC in Bangkok.  Detainees at the airport are only there for a short time (maybe overnight) and they are allowed to retain their personal possessions (except passport). 

 

It has been reported that there are individuals that have been detained in the IDC for several years because they have no recourse to funds to get them back to their home country.

 

This is why I suggest  in my original post 21 that the OP's first priority must be to get their son out of IDC ASAP.

Yeah like I said above I don’t know for sure about that I’ve never been in IDC before but I have seen reports posted online.  I don’t know maybe some of them are different maybe they have different facilities.  I don’t know about IDC like I said above except for reports I’ve read and what I’ve heard.  

Regardless OP again call this number: 02070081500, or call 02-305-8333 and push 141, it’s 4 for emergencies for British Nationals.  You should call ASAP.  This is for the British Embassy for emergencies like your son’s.  And getting detained is considered an emergency by the Embassies including yours.  I called them for you and I even asked them myself earlier.  YOU CAN CALL THEM 24/7, I just called them myself earlier and I asked them for you.  You can call these numbers after hours 24 hours a day and they will have a person answer the phone who can at least tell you what to do and guide you.  

Again good luck and I’m sorry about some of the insensitive replies you are getting from some of these people everyone on this forum always seems to have an opinion helpful or not.  Just call the numbers I gave you for the British Embassy immediately if you have not already done so.  They are the ones who can help you the most as far as guidance at least.  

7 minutes ago, rumak said:

May I also suggest a little less criticism and perhaps a bit more compassion for a distraught parent is called for.

 

and shortening your user name would also be a plus.   maybe just a*****e 69

Exactly thank you!  

5 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

Actually you can't do anything but wait. 

I suppose your son is old enough to manage his life by himself. 

For paying fines aso I recommend to set up a fund raising,  very popular here on TV for people who get into contact with Thai law or ran out of money 

He needs to at least call the emergency phone number for the British Embassy immediately, call this number: 02070081500, or he can call 02-305-8333 and push 141, it’s 4 for emergencies for British Nationals.  He should call ASAP.  

3 hours ago, 007 RED said:

OP…. I’m sorry to hear that your son has caused you a parental heartache and I hope that I can give you some information which will help you.

 

In your original post you did not mention how your son came to be in Immigration custody.  This can be important as it will have a bearing on how his case will be handled.  There are two possibilities, namely:

 

Firstly: 

If your son was arrested or stopped by the police for an unrelated immigration offence, (for example a routine police check following an accident or something more serious) the police may well have asked to see his passport and discovered that he was on overstay, and hence immigration’s involvement.

 

If he has committed an unrelated immigration offence, then that matter will need to be dealt with first by the local police and Court.  Depending what the offence was, your son could be detained in the local police cells until an initial Court appearance which is normally within a week.  Depending upon the nature of the offence, it is possible also that he may be released on bail, but he will have to surrender his passport to the Court and stay at a specified address and report to police on a regular basis until the case is formally heard.

For your information, it can take several weeks before an offence is normally tried in Court.

 

The Court will also be informed of his overstay and that matter may also be dealt with by the Court at the same time as any other offence.

 

For your information, although the fine for overstay is set at 500 THB (approximately £12) per day, the maximum fine that can be levied is 20,000 THB (approximately £494).  The Courts, however, generally reduce the overstay fine to around 3,000 to 6,000 THB.

 

Once the offence matter has been dealt with by the Court, and your son has paid any fines (or served any prison sentence) imposed by the Court, Immigration will detain your son and transfer him to the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Bangkok to await deportation.  This transfer may take several days to arrange during which time he will be detained in a local police cell, or local Immigration facility.

 

Secondly:  

 

If your son was stopped by Immigration in a ‘spot check’, and they discovered that he was on four years overstay, they (Immigration) have the power to detain and deport him from the Kingdom without the need for any Court appearance.  Immigration can also charge him the maximum fine for overstay (20,000 THB) and this will need to be paid before he is deported. 

 

If he has not committed any other offences, he will be transported to the IDC in Bangkok to await deportation.  Transfer, as mentioned above, may take several days to arrange.

 

The police/immigration should notify the Consular Section of British Embassy in Bangkok that your son has been detained, where he is being held and the reason for the detention.  Unfortunately, this can often take several days to happen.  An Embassy representative will contact your son and inform him what assistance the Embassy can, or cannot, give.  See link below

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/451352/Thailand_Prisoners_pack_template_-_Final_Draft_for_publishing.pdf

 

Not wishing to frighten you, but the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok is everyone’s worst nightmare.  Conditions there are about as bad as they can get.  So, getting him out of IDC must be a number one priority.

 

I would strongly recommend that you contact the Consular Section at the British Embassy in Bangkok, their contact details are given in the link I’ve attached above and listen to their advice.  They deal with similar problems on a daily basis and are in the best position to give you advice. 

 

The Embassy will not pay for his flight out of the Kingdom.  However, you can send the Embassy money which they in turn will deposit in an account for him which will be held by the IDC.  The Embassy will make a charge for this service. 

 

Your son will not be allowed any personal possessions or physical money whilst in the IDC, but he can debit his account held by IDC in order to pay for better food, drinking water, mattress or other essentials etc. which he can request the guards to obtain for him.  He will also need funds available to pay for his flight out of the Kingdom.

 

Regarding his flight, again the Embassy staff will best advise you on this matter.  Generally speaking, Immigration will want the deportee to be flow back to their home country by a single carrier, without stops, whenever possible.  This should not be a problem as there are several carriers that fly direct between Bangkok and the UK.

 

I strongly advise that you, or his friends, do not purchase a ticket for him without talking to Immigration first as Immigration need to approve the flight before a booking is confirmed so that they can arrange transport from the IDC to the airport.  This can take a couple of days to arrange. 

 

It has been reported that when family or friends have obtained a ticket without Immigration approval the individual was not transported to the airport in time to catch the flight and as a result the airline considers it to be a ‘no show’, which means no refund and having to purchase another expensive ticket.

 

You need to be aware that a single ticket from Bangkok to the UK, booked at relatively short notice e.g. a couple of days, will be expensive – single fares tend to be 2/3rd the cost of a normal return flight and the short notice booking inevitably attracts a higher premium charge.

 

Once a flight has been approved and booked, Immigration will transport your son from the IDC in Bangkok to the airport.  At the airport your son will be taken to the airport detention facility until his flight is ready to board.  His passport will be given to the flight crew and this will be returned to him when he exits the plane in the UK.

 

For your information…  Your son will be banned from entering Thailand for the next 10 years.  This may present him with a problem if he has property and bank accounts here, but that is the least of his problems for now.  Get him out of IDC ASAP.

 

I hope this information has been helpful and best of luck.

Really I’ve heard that IDC wasn’t actually that bad I hope I didn’t advise him incorrectly but I at least provided him with the emergency phone numbers for the British Embassy.  I called the British Embassy for him and they said that he should call this number: 02070081500, or he can call 02-305-8333 and push 141, it’s 4 for emergencies for British Nationals.  He should call ASAP.  

I’m really sorry to hear that about your son I would recommend calling your Consulate ASAP and inform them that it’s an emergency about your son I don’t know if they’re going to be much help but it’s a start.  Your Consulate is available 24/7 for emergencies like this I do know that if someone has been detained you can call their emergency phone number.  The United States Embassy has that available and I’m sure your Embassy does as well in fact I know they do because I just called them for you as I’m typing and they advised me to have you call them at this number immediately 02070081500.  Or call 02-305-8333 and push 141, it’s 4 for emergencies and they do consider an arrest an emergency.  So you should call one of those two numbers right now!!!  Those numbers are for the British Embassy which I believe is yours they said it was if your son is a UK National.  So if I were you I’d call them now, again it’s 02070081500 or call 02-305-8333 and push 141, it’s 4 for emergencies.  

As far as penalties I’m not sure if he’s facing jail time I don’t believe so but ask this guy Ubonjoe he’ll know everything you need to know about that.  Honestly Joe can advise you but you really need to call your Consulate immediately I called them and got the numbers for you posted above.  I think the worst thing that’s probably going to happen is that he’ll probably be blacklisted from Thailand for I believe 10 years if I remember the law right which I’m sure is probably the least of your concern right now you just want your son back home.  He’ll at least remain in Immigration Detention until he can be deported or transportation to his home country can be arranged.  Oh and I think he will probably owe a fine at least before they put him on the plane home but ask Ubonjoe about that and your Consulate.  Honestly in this situation just call your Consulate.  As soon as you have spoken to your Consulate and taken their advice you’ll probably want to help him arrange airfare back home as soon as possible so that he spends as little time as possible in Detention.  

I don’t know but from what I understand and have heard Immigration Detention isn’t at all like a Thai prison.  I’ve heard that it’s not horrible but I don’t know where he’s being held obviously.  More than likely in Immigration Detention which I’ve heard isn’t too horrible but I’m not sure, obviously you want him out of there and home as soon as possible regardless.  As a parent I can’t imagine how worried you must be but I’m pretty sure that Immigration Detention isn’t to bad if that’s indeed where he’s being held.  So it’s not like he’s in a real Thai prison or anything like that.  More than likely he’s just in Immigration Detention of course I could be wrong I’m not familiar with how that works especially after a 4 year overstay.  

It’s possible that he might even have his cell phone with him if he’s indeed in Immigration Detention.  I’ve seen reports of people in Immigration Detention before online that were allowed to keep their cell phones and I saw one where a guy took a picture of the Detention room and posted it online and it didn’t look bad at all it actually looked really decent of course like I said I don’t know where your son is being held hopefully in one of the nicer Detention rooms but I don’t know.  I’m just making an educated guess based on what I’ve learned after living here legally for almost 5 years.  So I’m probably right but I can’t say 100% for sure.  

Just get in touch with your Consulate now and try and have them put you in touch with him and get the ball rolling on getting him home as soon as possible.  Again call 02070081500 or call 02-305-8333 and push 141, it’s 4 for emergencies for British Nationals.  I’m not sure how you would dial that phone number from the UK but I’m sure you can figure that out.  I hope that helps and good luck getting your son home.  He’ll be okay try not to stress out too much.  

11 hours ago, lkv said:

"If you have done nothing wrong, you should not be concerned"

 

"It's normal, they are just trying to keep the good guys in and get the bad guys out"

 

"It's because of the bad guys that we, the good guys have to suffer"

 

will say the Thai apologists.

That’s all true but I sure am very glad that I don’t live in Bangkok or in that area.  Up here where I live the cops don’t bother anyone ever and I’ve been here for almost 5 years now.  Unless you’re out doing something seriously stupid they tend to leave you alone up here.  I’ve never had a visit from the cops ever.  

Although I do recall one incident about 4 years ago when I saw the cops at my neighbor’s house who’s from the UK, I think they were paying him a visit because he was seriously late on his 90 day reporting or something but he still lives there and seems to be doing okay as far as I can tell.  Well at the time I had been reading about the police checking up on foreigners a lot and I was still pretty new actually living in Thailand at the time.  So I automatically thought that it was some sort of routine check so I immediately went outside voluntarily with my passport in hand and all my Immigration paperwork, and I approached the cops and was trying to show them.  

Turned out that they had no intention of visiting me at all but they looked at my passport anyway because I offered voluntarily.  I thought they were checking on foreigners.  Then the cops told me that they were just there reminding my next door neighbor to stop by Immigration to report or something.  So it turned into a friendly conversation with the two cops and they seemed impressed when they asked about my background and my wife told them that I’m retired military and a little bit about me.  They actually saluted me which I guess is a common curtesy custom here even when anyone walks into the mall the guy opening the door salutes everyone.  But that was the last time I ever saw the cops visiting anyone on my street and there has never been any routine checks on foreigners around here that I know of.  Although there are only a few foreigners on my street.  

I’ve never had a visit we live in a house in a normal neighborhood not fancy but nice good enough for me anyway.  There’s never any crime in our neighborhood although we did have one incident a few years ago that caused me to install surveillance cameras all over my house in my front yard, outside my front gate with a view of the road outside and one camera downstairs that sees anyone entering the front door.  I had a few cameras before the incident but we had one day where someone poisoned a litter of puppies that I was talking care of and looking for homes for them.  Whoever did got away with it but with the surveillance camera system I have now including it’s infrared night vision no one would ever get away with anything like that on my street ever again unless the power goes out.  I have all points of entry into my property covered by surveillance cameras and inside by the front door downstairs and all the windows covered as well by video and I have my street outside my front gate covered by a few surveillance cameras one camera that can be easily seen and one that’s hidden.  The video cameras all feed the video to my iPhone and they record everything 24/7 to a memory card in my laptop computer.  I never called the cops about the puppies because I had no proof of who did it even though I think I know who did it but I can’t make accusations without proof and everyone else in my neighborhood has a pretty good idea who it was as well.  I know none of my neighbors would’ve ever done anything like that, we all are pretty sure it was a particular maintenance guy around here who doesn’t like all of the stray dogs.  I wish I could have caught him doing it actually he probably never would’ve done it if I had the surveillance system back then that I have now it’s also a good deterrent when most of my cameras can be seen.  My neighbors have actually told me that they appreciate the cameras because a few of them have views of our whole street which provides security for most of my neighbors as well, I just make sure that my cameras can only view the street and not inside anyone’s house or yard so that I’m not violating anyone’s privacy but no one has expressed any concern to me about that.  We also have a school on our neighborhood street as well and they also have a good video surveillance camera system including the street outside so I’m not the only one.  

Anyway other than that I might see the cops patrolling around my neighborhood and on my street once in a while but very rarely and whenever I do see the cops around my neighborhood they just smile and waive or just ignore me and go on about their business.  They never mess with anyone unless they are doing something blatantly stupid.  

One of my wife’s sisters did get a DUI once I remember because I helped bail her out of jail for 12,000 Baht but she was like passing out drunk really bad.  Although that’s a really sad story because that year my wife’s sister that sister she has 3 sisters had just lost her 20 year old daughter in a motorcycle accident.  That was also about 2 or 3 years ago.  Alcohol had nothing to do with the motorcycle accident it was just a freak occurrence my wife’s sister’s daughter was a passenger riding on the back of the motorcycle and her and the driver were both killed.  So after that my wife’s sister fell into a deep depression and started drinking heavily which was why the judge went really easy on her in court the next morning after the DUI, and it was her first offense.  Ever since that incident the whole family has really been more supportive of her and got her help and so far she’s been doing okay and no more drinking.  I wasn’t there but I assume that she probably got stopped at a police checkpoint on the highway somewhere because the cops don’t usually follow and pull anyone over around here.  In fact I’ve never seen the cops pull anyone over anywhere in Thailand except for at their checkpoints only not like they do in the United States.  

That’s one of the things I like particularly where I live in Thailand up in the north eastern area is the cops normally leave you alone unless you’re blatantly doing something wrong and being obvious about it.  Although I have no doubt that if I were to ever overstay my extension for example that they would eventually come looking for me because my address is properly registered with my local immigration office but obviously I’d never do that.  I always renew my extension at least 30 days early or as early as they let me do it every year.  My local immigration office here is pretty good and easy to work with as well but it’s a small immigration office and they are never really that busy.  I’ve been to the immigration office in Bangkok before and there’s a huge difference between mine and the big cities the immigration office in Bangkok is huge and always very busy, but up here in this smaller city we have a really small immigration office and whenever I visit them there are never that many people.  The busiest I’ve ever seen them they may have had 20 people in the room at the most but usually less than 10 max.  Whenever I go to report there’s never more than 5 people waiting in line.  It’s nice living in a city like I do because it’s smaller but not to small there’s still a lot to do around here but it’s no where near like Bangkok.  Although Bangkok is a nice place to visit once in a while it’s a 5 hour drive south of where I live.  

I don’t like to advertise where exactly I live but it’s a decent size city in the north eastern district and it really is nice here.  We live in the city but the country and rural areas are only a short trip outside the city in fact the whole city is surrounded by rural areas.  And there are also really nice lakes nearby where you can swim and just all sorts of stuff to do for a lot cheaper than Bangkok.  The cost of living is a lot cheaper up here as well from what I’ve heard, for me it’s just perfect we’re really happy here and my wife’s family lives just next door which can be helpful sometimes.  I don’t think I’d want to live anywhere else in Thailand this area is perfect especially when I read stories like this usually from the Bangkok area.  Other than the incident with the puppies we’ve never had a problem.  Although I do take security very seriously with the cameras some people might think it’s a little too much but no one could ever do anything like that ever again and get away with it unless they do it during a power outage and we don’t get very many outages.  Every once in a while maybe a few times a year a squirrel might bite a power line and sometimes we’ll get a power outage but it usually never lasts more than an hour, they’re usually pretty fast about fixing it when it does happen rarely.  And the cops around here just do their job and leave normal people alone.  

On 4/4/2019 at 10:33 AM, ubonjoe said:

You can enter at a different border crossing without a problem.

There are two crossings you use south of Poi Pet. Or north from Siem Reap to the Chong Chom crossing to Surin province.

I was just in that area 2 months ago we were planning on going to Surin and we ended up down there by the border I saw the crossing you’re talking about.  My first year here before I started getting extensions every year I always did border crossings at Poi Pet, and back then Poi Pet was still an awesome place to cross not anymore from what I hear ever since the end of 2015.  Turns out that area you’re talking about near Surin would’ve been closer than Poi Pet maybe a little bit closer but I don’t know I think the drive was just as long if I remember right.  Poi Pet was about a 3 hour drive if I remember right, and a few months ago when we were near the border crossing outside of Surin Province I’m not exactly sure how long the drive was because we were sightseeing and making a lot of stops but if I remember right I think it actually was a little closer.  I’d have to Google it to be sure but it doesn’t matter now because I don’t have to make border crossings anymore.  

I actually didn’t mind doing the border crossings they were kind of fun actually my first year here at least because Cambodia was one of the few places I actually had not been to at the time.  These days I much prefer 90 day reporting then border crossings every 90 days.  There’s a lot more security with one year extensions every year.  And this is the longest time in years that I’ve ever just stayed in one place without constantly traveling all over the world.  

All my bills combined here in Thailand including rent are less than $600 US dollars a month and we live in a big house which is pretty modern and we live very comfortably and we have American cable TV through AIS with great iPhone service and everything here is really cheap.  If you live modestly your bills here would be a lot less than mine and my bills aren’t much even as comfortably as we live.  You have to ask yourself can you afford to retire?  You said something about being an “old NCO” are you retired military?  Because if you’re receiving any types of pensions 800K is not the only option, if you are on a retirement extension you have to at least make 65K Baht a month and 40K Baht a month for a marriage visa extension.  I don’t know what your financial situation is but if you make less than their minimum required monthly income then it’s kind of on you, just because you were writing in whatever income amount you wanted on the Embassy income affidavits for years doesn’t make it right just because they closed that loop hole and did away with income affidavits.  That’s actually why they made the changes but the specific income requirements are actually still the same as they have always been.  

Although I do think immigration should lower the income requirement at least a little bit for people like you who make enough money to live here but maybe not as much as what immigration requires but unfortunately that’s not up to me.  That’s why you have to at least know what their basic immigration rules are for everything especially financial requirements before deciding to retire here.  Good luck.  

It is really a lot easier to renew your passport at the United States Embassy and it’s faster.  You’d really be better off doing it here.  I presume you are probably going back to the States for more than just doing your passport because it is actually so much easier to renew your passport at any United States Embassy around the world then back in the States.  I’ve done my last two passports at the United States Embassies in Tokyo back in 2010 and again just early last year back in November last year here in Thailand in Bangkok.  It’s been well over 20 years since I ever had my passport done in the States but I remember it took forever in the mail.  Here in Thailand if you get it done at the Embassy it’s less than two weeks you’ll have your new passport back and they let you keep your old canceled passport while you wait about 10 to 14 days to receive your new passport under the Embassy’s new policy.  They don’t make you go back to Bangkok anymore to pick up your new passport now they let you keep your old canceled passport while you wait for the new passport to arrive in the mail, and now they mail everyone their new passport to your local address via EMS mail.  I believe that policy went into effect in 2017, but I just did my last passport at the Embassy just last year in November and that’s definitely how they do it now and it’s even easier now than it used to be at the Embassy.  

The Embassy has a really efficient system for processing passport renewal applications.  The Embassy is really efficient when it comes to common tasks and services such as passports.  I don’t know if you’ve ever done your passport at the Embassy before but believe it or not it really is easier than doing it in the States directly through the Department of State.  I don’t know your circumstances about your trip back to the States and it’s none of my business but you really are better off doing your passport here in Thailand at the Embassy.  

4 hours ago, onera1961 said:

Isn't it going to be easy to open an account in the same branch the you already have the joint account? Take your wife and she can guarantee for you. They need a Thai to vouch for  you.  

Not necessarily I have a joint account at Bangkok Bank with my wife but my local Bangkok Bank branch where we have the joint account gave me such a hard time that I went to my local SCB branch and opened an account in my name only.  My local Bangkok Bank branch wanted to make a copy of my original Social Security Card from the States which I don’t even remember what I did with I think I left it in my briefcase that’s in storage back in the States, and they wanted some kind of letter from Immigration to open an account in my name only.  

So I went to SCB and I opened an account in my name only with no problems at all, all they asked to see were documents that I have readily available and I did have to provide my Social Security Number on their forms but it was really easy.  I have excellent online banking with SCB and everything else I need including a real debit card with the Master Card logo on it.  

It just depends on the bank branch they all have their own little rules on what’s required for a foreigner to open their own account.  If they give you a hard time just ask to speak with the manager and if the manager also gives you a hard time then don’t even waste your time just go to a different branch or bank.  

Opening a Thai bank account in your own name can be a challenge but it is very doable.  Apparently ever since 2016 some of the banks made some new rules I guess I’m not sure.  When we originally opened the joint account at Bangkok Bank that was back in 2015 before they started making things more difficult and back then all they needed was my passport.  Although I had no problem opening my own account at my local SCB branch.  It just depends on the local bank branch sometimes you have to do a little bit of bank shopping until you find the right bank.  It took me about two or three tries until I eventually got my own bank account at my local SCB branch.  My local SCB branch is really good but it just depends on where you live I guess and that particular bank branch.