Smokegreynblues

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. 

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 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.

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/

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. 

Since the new work permits issued dont have any workplace address or a home address at the back of the book, Is there any way I can fill up a form plead to the labor to specifically add a workplace address or a home address?   It used to be such in the older days .

Certificate of residence is not an option as I hold two licenses for motorbike and car renewing and buying and selling vehicles and registering them is quite frequent in my case. Getting it from the embassy so many times a year will result in thousands of baht lost just for paper. So does doing it at the immigration as visits to the immigration is not that cheap nor convenient plus the TM 30 hassle. 

On 8/14/2019 at 4:20 PM, BritManToo said:

5x 1 year extensions of stay (or 3x 1 year marriage extensions).

I'm guessing your VISA won't be the right type to allow an application for citizenship.

Which is normally what happens with foreign teachers in Thailand.

SO what is the right type again ?

ERI is load of complete s*** it builds upon its averages by numbers submitted by other people. And no Thai is going to submit his numbers on an English only website for no good reason. Search in pantip forums in Thai and you will find the scales easily. 

22 hours ago, allane said:

All of this TM 30 trouble applies only upon a return from travel outside of Thailand.  Neither you nor your landlord need to do anything.

wrong. I never exited the country , still my last TM 30 was at  a hotel in Koh chang at immigration's computer and was told it is invalid and my landlord needed to file one when i came back from there. 

19 minutes ago, GarryP said:

What language would you have officials speak in their home country? Would officials in the UK be expected to be able to speak Thai for the convenience of Thai applicants, or Vietnamese, or Cambodian? Yes, it would be great if officials could speak English, but I don't see why people should expect that. 

 

I do agree that the fee is too high. That is the reason I never went for PR. I was holding out for when the law changed to allow foreign men married to Thai women to apply for citizenship. Luckily for me, the law did indeed change. Otherwise I would be kicking myself black and blue for not biting the bullet and applying for PR.     

Considering Thailand allows bilingual forms for most things and signboards across the nation in English. Every Fine and receipt being bilingual.  Also PR doesn't list speaking Thai as a necessity, It makes sense for the desk to speak rudimentary English if not perfect. While i don't expect such anymore given the cold stare at that desk upon speaking English. 

process is difficult,

too many hoops to jump,

the application desk doesn't speak any English only Thai.

3 year consecutive stay with Work permit,

very high minimum salary requirement,

a secret points system to qualify ,

Thai knowledge tests, thai civics test etc.

A minimum duration of marriage needed.

Lots of documents to be translated and attested. Limited to 100 per nationality .

Limited application window duration. also 98,000 baht/191,000 baht fee if approved. That's why. 

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

My reply was to a person married to a Thai which is lower than the 80k baht needed for others.

So now its not 40k anymore for the PR>? what about applying on behalf of having a wife as her dependent who makes more than 80k ?

On 2/12/2017 at 6:14 PM, ubonjoe said:

That  amount and the 5 years does not exist. The baseline is really 50k baht proven by 3 years of tax returns.

You have to be working for 3 consecutive years with a work permit and on extensions of stay for 3 consecutive years.

Even a short interruption of the 3 years would prevent you from applying.

If married to a Thai and you can prove 3 years of working and paying taxes on 40k baht of income while on an extensions for 3 years you can apply for Thai citizenship now.

how come it is 50k ? i thought it was 80k ?

its changed only in Phuket also in just few of the amphurs. But i am sure it might get stricter.