Smokegreynblues

First of you you’re an ignorant fool. Every well educated hot Thai who is a looker for Thais isn’t the type of what most farangs here date. They just aren’t the type.  Also, they are out of most farangs reach and they are coveted and desired. All the issan beauties most Thais don’t bat an eye when they are with a farang , as they aren’t interested in those.  Also what makes you think Thai men aren’t rich ? Most Thai men I know who own their own businesses can put an average retiree or cheap seeker to shame.  Most of the kind of farangs in Thailand are such kind anyway. I dunno which Thai dudes you hangout with , but the ones that I did , always paid for my tab which ran more than the ringing bar bell in pattaya does.  There’s extreme in every society and you’re being biased.  You need to look at yourself and realize you aren’t the main character here.  

I have been here for close to decade. I was 23 when I came, I noticed, that male thais usually form their friendship bonds earlier in school and carry them for life, or university. I was making significant friends when I was hanging out with the university ones who were interested in other cultures. Fast forward to my 30s. I have thai male friends less than say 4 or 5. Even the ones I have i barely see once a year.  I assume, people are wary of friends in older age , or they already have enough that they don't need one. Especially who speak a different language. I do however have some friends who have many Thai friends, but they are all of Asian decent and can relate to the culture better. Most became friends with their GFs group of friends and thats how they ended up together. Also, I wouldnt advice making friends with Thai guys who speak only Thai as misunderstandings can result in violent clashes. If the Thais are well educated, educated abroad, or lived abroad on a work holiday, they are much more relatable and easier to be friends with as they understand your culture or atleast are open about it. Yes, I often do get asked as why do you come to Thailand, and do you like thai women, You just dodge the question as it is an answer to judge you. 

I often feel the rules to citizenship aren't up to date with the times, the Foreign Husband amendment was progressive and up with the times, but its been 12 years since, and still doesn't address the many issues that prevail. LGBT people aren't represented, while they may have legitimate relationships. Also, not all men choose to marry, for many reasons- security financial etc., there is no provision of acceptance of a civil partnership. It also seems that citizenship is only availiable to a select few that meet a certain demographic. The income requirements are extremely high as a single male. Plus the PR requirement increases the hurdles. In a country where an average graduate makes 24k/month in Bangkok. Asking for a 80-120k salary, is about attracting a rich demographic/or discouraging applicants. Deterring the single male, and making it a niche thing to posses. While nothing is there for a woman. If this isn't sexism, I don't know what is. I know I am bashing this, but someone has to say it. This thread has so many people, who in their quest to naturalize often overlook the negatives, because the positives far outweigh the negatives. If any policy maker reads this thread, it would help to make amendments, amendments as to length of stays say 10-20 Years (Like every other sane country, which provides some level of social stability, after all its social stability that people apply for citizenship anyway)  rather than a high income to qualify. Yes, I am sour. Unmarried and yes, I don't make the income requirement to qualify for PR and hence citizenship. 

A foreigner working in Thailand for many years on a WP ,who makes a Thai wage, Should be allowed to buy "One" landed property, as a primary home. This should keep speculation at bay and keep land prices down. Premium foreigners, just increase the price of premium properties, making developers focus more on premium, and creating wealth disparity in future. Yes. I am looking at you Australia. There are 4 million foreigners(Skilled and unskilled)  working, willing to pool in their monies for a sense of safe space to live.

Foreigners come in so many categories:-

Foreigners with Social security card

Foreigners with Private insurance

Foreigners with work Group insurance

Foreigners UNDER MOU with neighboring countries+ Pink card

Foreigners as bonafide tourists with 1m dollar covid insurance

Foreigners as retirees

Foreigners with PR 

Foreigners on emergency covid extensions

Foreigners as dependents not included in any of the above. 

They should specify "WHICH" Category of foreigner

On 4/6/2021 at 2:26 PM, Bredbury Blue said:

I have decent but BASIC Thai language skills, listening is better than speaking. By that i mean i can get comfortably go round on my own, order things, explain my requirements, understand most of what is said to me, etc. If i listen to the Thai news though, i struggle to follow it as there are many words and expressions i am not familiar with.

 

Everything i had read said the Thai language part wasn't difficult so i thought with a few months Thai language practice before the test i should be good to go, so the the wife and i went to get the forms and ask some questions in November last year at Chaeng Wattana. That was it really, we wanted a set of forms and the wife was going to ask a couple of very simple questions.

 

The lady on the desk though was having none of it. She gave me a right grilling in Thai, when i tried to speak in English she wouldn't permit it. I really struggled with the speed she was talking to me and some of the vocabulary. She basically destroyed me. Honestly, this turned in to being my worst experience with a Thai in all the decades i have been here (and before anybody chips in, yes i know i should be fluent in Thai by now - wish it was that easy though).

 

When my wife tried to assist me by jumping in to the conversation, the lady on the desk was having none of it. She basically reprimanded my wife.

 

To cut a long story short we came out of the Chaeng Watthana Immigration Office feeling like we'd received a right good slap. I decided i would study Thai seriously and we'd go back, my wife decided that no way was she going back. So thank you to the lovely lady on the desk.

 

The outcome was that i will now not bother with trying to get Permanent Residence and will stay on a non-O Support Thai Wife until i pop my clogs!

 

I hope that my BAD experience might be helpful in answering the OP's question "My Thai language skills are VERY rusty. Is this likely to be a problem?".

 

 

 

 

Same experience years ago. Take a Thai lawyer, or someone of stature, I got burned first time I went there "alone", second time,  I asked a friend on my behalf to talk, who was a retired good rank government official. Got all the documents needed. I didn't qualify according to those though, Hence didn't apply, I gave up. There is an internal points system, language interview, quiz etc. and Thai introductions forms a part of it. Technically one should still qualify if one has a large enough salary among other things. I don't really know why PR  applications are discouraged so much. The whole point of PR is to assimilate and to get citizenship later. Language should be learned, but it shouldn't be a huge reason to send people off like that. 

I am certain if you cant take the test due to scheduling/covid issues, your school representative can talk to them for giving you an additional waiver of 2 years( A big maybe though) , During which you take the test and then you get the 5 year license.  Yes, it is a new requirement( for courses taken in 2020 and up), however, I have a feeling this might go away soon as it did in the past (7-8 years ago) when teacher's had to sit for a test in lieu of a teaching degree. This went nowhere and was cancelled later. I suspect the same to happen in future. 

On 11/6/2020 at 1:11 PM, smutcakes said:

As an update, i applied late last year, had my interview in late Feb, early March and was contacted by the immigration office last week asking for a copy of my house registration. They expect to have it signed and completed by the middle of November, so very quick process compared to what it has taken previously.

Still don't get why they ask for house registration. If the applicant is a single male with a job and no condo to his name. I have been here for years but still no yellow house registration. The whole point of PR is to get into the blue book anyway. 

On 7/25/2020 at 2:00 PM, Oldie said:

If the bank does not have your tax ID they will tax your interest from the first Satang. This is new. The 20k Baht limit doesn't exist anymore without tax ID. 

I pay withholding tax on the savings account interest. 15 percent. If I give them my Tax id they will stop withholding/ that tax? and then will the interest income be added to my annual income and taxed as a personal income tax? is that it? 

5 hours ago, ukrules said:

I'd like to find out how many 'smart visas' have been issued since it was introduced...I suspect it's either zero or very close to zero.

Quite a number of people in the IT industry hold such visas. I know around 5 people who hold such visas. All are working in IT. One in the food technology industry. 

The first cohort of Derby started in  late 2019, I doubt anyone finished it yet to try their hands on getting the TCT license. If you are resourceful go chat with the TCT with a translator. Usually any teaching program with a university that is on their "approved list" will do. Personally I know people who were resourceful enough to get their courses approved by the TCT. These few courses that are now well established , But like all ,the representatives had to go there personally to get the courses "approved" or at-least be told that they will be accepted for the 5 year license upon completion.

This might not be useful to most people , but just wanted to ask, I am eyeing for a job that provides a Non immigrant "F" visa. Is this visa even eligible for PR/Citizenship? , Currently struggling to make the minimum points in my current job. So thinking of a switch.

On 6/10/2020 at 11:57 AM, Arkady said:

Re retention of WP during the application process. It's often not asked for after the NIA interview but bear in mind that they can ask for all documents when you register for the MoI interview. When I went for mine they did this for others but didn't want to see mine, as they had recently seen them, as described below.  Also any of the delegates on the interview committee can ask to see your documents or any other information. In my case I was asked to bring my current and previous WPs to the MoI before my interview as they wanted to check them because SB had cocked up by not including a copy of the previous one in my file. The head of the nationality section told me, after confirming that all was in order, that she was happy that was the case or she would have had to disqualify me, if my WPs didn't check out.

 

The other thing can happen on rare occasions is that you can be asked to redo a lot of the application, if there is a discrepancy. In my case, again due to a stupid mistake by SB, I had to to resubmit copies of all documents, salary letter, bank statement etc, two and a half years after my original applcation.  Without a current WP, that would have been the end of the story.  During the Thaksin era all the pending citizenship applications were sent back from the MoI to SB to have everything rechecked and resubmitted, delaying the process by about three years.

 

So it's worth keeping a valid WP throughout the process, if you can because you never know.

 

 

Well how do you produce the old WP if the Labour in BKK insists on taking back the old WPs as part of the process to issue new ones, My old WP with 3 years of exp was taken away, when I got the new one. Assuming I get another 3 years on the new one, will the MOI etc, would want to see my old WP as well? Also there seems to be no way that I can get a copy/physical copy of my old expired WP

On 5/25/2020 at 10:44 PM, Neeranam said:

AGE AND EDUCATION
Age:
20 t0 30 - 2 points
30 to 40 – 5 points
40 to 50 – 10 points
50 to 60 – 8 points
Over 60 – 5 points

Education:
Mor 6 and above – 3 points
Diploma – 5 points
Bachelors Degree – 8 points
Masters Degree – 10 points
Doctrate – 15 points

SECURITY OF PROFESSION
Income (monthly):
80,000 to 90,000 – 15 points
90,000 to 100,000 – 20 points
Over 100,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities
40,000 to 50,000 – 15 points
50,000 to 60,000 – 20 points
Over 60,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities holding an Alien ID Card for 10 years or more:
20,000 to 30,000 – 15 points
30,000 to 40,000 – 20 points
Over 40,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) in the case of those married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:
40,000 to 50,000 – 15 points
50,000 to 60,000 – 20 points
Over 60,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) in the case of ethnic minorities married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:
20,000 to 30,000 – 15 points
30,000 to 40,000 – 20 points
Over 40,000 – 25 points

Income (monthly) on which tax paid:
80,000 to 100,000 – 15 points
100,000 to 120,000 – 20 points
Over 120,000 – 25 points
OR
Income (monthly) on which tax paid in the case of those married to a Thai national, or having Thai children, or having graduated from high school in Thailand:
40,000 to 60,000 – 15 points
60,000 to 80,000 – 20 points
Over 80,000 – 25 points

RESIDENCE IN THAILAND
Domicile:
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years but no Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate – 5 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 5 years – 10 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 7 years – 15 points
Has evidence of civil registration showing domicile in Thailand for at least 5 years and has Certificate of Residence or Alien Registration Certificate for at least 10 years – 20 points

KNOWLEDGE OF THAI LANGUAGE
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai – 8 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai and sing the National and Royal Anthems – 10 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai, sing the National and Royal Anthems, and read Thai – 13 points
Able to speak and understand spoken Thai, sing the National and Royal Anthems, and read and write Thai – 15 points

KNOWLEDGE OF THAILAND
Has a medium level knowledge of Thailand
(1-5 correct answers) – 5 points
Has a good knowledge of Thailand
(6-8 correct answers) – 8 points
Has a very good knowledge of Thailand
(9-10 correct answers) -10 points

PERSONALITY
Assessment based on personality, physical appearance and bearing, speech, Thai manners, attitude towards Thailand, Thai culture and ceremonies - 5 points

Can one point on the difference between (married to a thai Monthly salary point)  and (married to a thai monthly salary tax paid)? Why is the latter higher, even though one is married/has children

I hope you are not taking any advice from people on the internet. However, after a catract surgery, there is indeed a chance of retinal detachment. It can happen in between a few months to 14 years. Older patients might be at risk due to risk associated with blood pressure among many other factors. The chance of detachment is 1.4 percent , it still does indeed happen. If there is no retinal tear indicated by the doctor, you can take it easy for now and get it checked periodically. A retinal tear caught early may be fixed. If there is an increase in floaters,( For example like a flurry or a shower of floaters) instantly in a short span of time , immediately check for retinal tear. My father had to go through this and lost vision in one eye. The best advice someone gave was to seek out medical opinion, and keep up the periodic followup checks.

Without the documents and consent from your old job , about last day of work and resignation , a seamless transition to a new job without border hopping is impossible. I might be wrong but they also need provide a document stating to the immigration that they allow the current extension of stay to be extended and used with the name of the new school. Since it’s a different province school, cancelling of work permit in bangkok, then reapplying a new work permit in another province and taking the receipt of that new work permit to the immigration to cancel the old visa extension  and reapply for the new extension At immigration must be on the same day. If it’s a nearby province it’s possible ,else it is not possible to do on the same day and seamless transition fails. It would have been easier if your new job was in Bangkok province and using the same immigration office and Labour office. The reason they say it’s difficult is the old school simply don’t want to deal with Different Labour and immigration offices in another province. 
 

ps. It’s a nice bonus they provide you. No Thai curriculum school that I know of provides such. I wonder how many schools will lay off teaching staff this year. 

Its worth it if you don't want to be treated like a "fresh off the boat immigrant" until the day you die. 

On 2/10/2020 at 11:56 AM, LazySlipper said:

Been here 17 years and worked every school type imaginable and never heard of this. If it is available it surely won't be for foreigners. Good luck on your quest and keep me updated...????

It started in the year 2550. i.e. roughly 12 years, So it is fairly new.

On 2/10/2020 at 11:56 AM, LazySlipper said:

Been here 17 years and worked every school type imaginable and never heard of this. If it is available it surely won't be for foreigners. Good luck on your quest and keep me updated...????

I inquired with the office and sent emails, even read the law, it does not make a distinction between a foreign and Thai teacher(Point me if i am wrong, I cant read Thai, so i read the translated version). However after a friendly phone call and asking other people to contact them, the answer I got was foreign teacher's are not allowed to participate in the said fund.

Hello, In many Thai private schools there is an additional fund established under the 2550 Act of the same name, this enables Teachers working in private schools to get certain benefits. This is different from the social security contributions that a normal place of work provides. Since private schools are exempt from registering under the social security act, the private teacher fund fills in the gap. There is a 3 % salary deucted to pay towards the fund whereas the school puts another 3%  hence a total of 6% of salary every month goes to the fund, This though seems small but enables savings of 800,000 baht in 10 years time. Which is significant for a long term teacher.

My question is, can Foreign Teachers with a permanent 5 year teaching license able to register for this fund or is my school is giving me the runaround saying I as a foreigner teacher cannot register?

I have a <deleted>ty insurance private that covers nothing, nor can i apply for social security health card and get free treatments, can I at-least pay into this fund or is it out of the question too? The law says nothing that foreigners cant pay into the scheme.

here is the website in Thai if anyone is interested to know about it. http://www.aidfunds.org/

Yes they do provide something like a  "Smart visa", holder of which does not need a work permit. They also give digital work permits, I think for people who do not qualify for a "Smart visa", the catch is, the fee is very high. Don't quote me on this but around 30 percent of your income. There is also a minimum income requirement they need, which is usually quite high by Thailand standards. Please note I am not informed about the current situation, I inquired a long time ago. You can contact their support staff they are quick to answer queries.

PS i am sorry i read your post again , seems you want to know about Shelter instead of the one i mentioned above.

This is the REAL tuk tuk patrol. ????

For those who already got PR, how do you maintain your PR? Suppose if you got an overseas assignment of 2 years for working in another country. How many days you need to live in Thailand each year to get your endorsement for Non Quota immigrant visa? 

If i do manage to get PR in future, and then move on for better overseas opportunities a year or two at a time, but still want to maintain my PR, is it possible?

Few years ago I was on my second Tourist visa, I wore a suit , the immigration official questioned me like crazy. It is never a good idea to wear a suit.

1 hour ago, onera1961 said:

frequent buyers/sellers use an agent for thet. They don't mess with residency certificate. Money money money that is what needed not residency certificate.

Sent from my Hi9Pro using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Not that frequent , but still if I include embassy costs IL be spending at-least 5-6k baht every year on these papers alone.