SCOTT FITZGERSLD

17 hours ago, CNXBKKMAN said:

If you are going to cancel wait until closer to the departure date. The ticket may be non refundable today as per the fare rules but due to virus situation the airline may announce a policy of waiving date change fees or allowing full refunds if you cancel. So if you are lucky you wont lose anything or can date change the ticket for a date months in the future. 

good advice. this is also what my travel agent told me.

however, i dont care much about the money anymore, now that i am sure how bad it is,

and going to get worse.

On 2/7/2020 at 5:05 PM, ukrules said:

Post the link please

THE link is about britons who arrived from singapore.

sorry, my mistake, but same same :

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-uk-france-britons-latest-test-outbreak-virus-a9324681.html

he is right/

i just searched some chinese social media chat rooms, and they are all saying things like:

"ahhh..i can't wait for the corona virus to over so i can go to a vacation in thailand, and this time

twice the time i ussualy go !!"

ok, so when will THB get to his fair price - 38 to the USD?

you definately should cancell as your travel is for pleasure only and 

 pleasure is NOT worth risking your life or even your safety (because just now the thai 

health minister called thai people to help in kicking out farang who don't wear masks).

2 hours ago, talahtnut said:

In the past, I've heard English people referred

to as 'potato sacks'.

At a club in London, my mate asked me why

is that when I pass a group of Thai girls they

say 'Moo'?  I said its means 'handsome'.

 

 

"moo" means pig, and the thai girls say it because the see how you look at them.

if you, like me, will try hard to never look at thai girls, not in the street at least, you will 

also enjoy never to be called "moo".

I just bougth a flight ticket to thailand. i fully paid for it two weeks ago, just

days before the news about the virus broke out.

now i am not sure anymore if it is a good idea to fly to Thailand, nut if i cancell this ticket i lose 1000 USD. 

i hear on the news today that U.K. and other weswtern countries are asking travelers from

Thailand, japan, hong kong, ext. to watch themselves. maybe a travel ban will follow soon.

what do you think? should i cancell this ticket to thailand, lose 1000 USD and wait few months

until the virus will fade away?

5 hours ago, nikmar said:

also, isnt he an engineer by trade. How is he qualified to be a health Minister. the more i think about this,the more mental it is.

HE is red headed who knows how to look like he is going to explode any minute and smack the hell

out of anyone who stand in his way. that's the main quality a senior politician here needs.

hello, exuse me sir, you look chinese, please step aside...do yo have health certificate? ok thank yu very much

just hold'em balls and ask them to cough !

On 2/2/2020 at 5:48 PM, webfact said:

if the outbreak prolonged until March, it could cost the Thai tourism industry between Bt80 billion to Bt100 billion

no. this is not the true cost.

if the virus will hit thailand in full force, and if it is the X-VIRUS that sceintists are so affraid of (a super virus that has no cure ), than it can wipe off half the country population !! no kiddin !!

23 hours ago, uncleeagle said:

yes, im not extending my O retirement based visa this year and will be significantly cutting back on my visits to thailand, for all the reasons the OP mentioned plus others. its just too much hassle now and too absurdly complicated. 

 

CW told me last time that next time the bank documents will have to be dated the same day as the extension application. as the OP said, this may be impossible. in my case my bank does not have a CW branch so it will be hard to comply with, maybe actually impossible. but without doubt a new layer of stress and frustration for no logical justification.

 

and yes, then there is the need for a TM30 receipt which I am anticipating will not be given as I stay in serviced apartments (4 or 5 star so I spend far more than the average person) and will not have and do not want a long term contract. the OPs comment about needing a contract as proof of residence is exactly what i am also expecting and i do not intend to waste time at CW when the IO will very likely refuse based on this. my reasons are not mere paranoia but based on my experience last year.

 

there are other reasons, these are just the straws that have broken this particular camels back. and these are just the existing issues, i would not be surprised at new ones, that is after all what the trend is suggesting.

 

never mind though, the money i wont be spending in thailand can easily be be made up for by a hundred or so coach loads of screeching, belching, defecting and spitting chinese or indian tourists.

 

 

unfortunately i am talking from experience, after the IO refused my visa extention the first time,

because "need show money came from outside". 

the same IO oficer asked me, in that same time, when i asked for the retirement extention :

"how old are you?"...he looked at me like he can't believe that i am over 50, and maybe

next time they will ask for a birth certificate...

so now i am planning to apply again, but just to be sure i was checking here

on this helpful board, and discovered even more and more and more

documents and papers that i must bring...and some say that i need and some say no need...which makes me fear again than the IO will find a reason to refuse my extention...

while all this time a friend of mine, who does not even have 800K IN a thai bank account

 or in any other account,  is using an agent for years and gets

his retirement extention, year after year...

what an absurd !!

On 1/31/2020 at 9:32 AM, snoop1130 said:

The prime minister emphasised that the committee should consider this matter carefully because China had prohibited its nationals from traveling abroad

do you get it? china itself had prohibited it's nationals (not citizens?) from

traveling abroad, and rightly so, and the prime minister is asking the committee not to make things even harder...on the tourist industry...because the tourist industry is allready suffering...from china's restriction

on chinese traveling...WHAAAT? i know thailand has an ongoing IQ crisis, but can't they think what will 

happan if and when the virus will break out in thaiand, god forbids? 

can't they even try to imagin, that with few thousand cases of the virus in thailand,

there will not be any more tourism industry, and maybe even no more thailand?

On 1/31/2020 at 4:56 PM, Anotify said:

Visa agents is your best bet.. No headaches, bring  your wallet .

sure seems like that...as long as they are legal..i know few people who use only agents for their retirement visa...for years...but they are in chiang mai.

does any one knows a good agent in bangkok area?

9 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

The process is surprisingly simple

the process does sound simple, indeed, but when done it is not so simple.

for example in my case, i asked the IO in hua hin how to do it, and she told me "just have 800K baht in the bank and come with ...".

and so i did. but when i came again with the documents, the IO told me, with a pathetic smile: "no, the 800K must be sent from abroad". 

so why did'nt the IO say so from the begining ????

AND SO IT CAN GO ON AND ON - BRING THIS DOCUMENT AND THAT and how about the rntal aggreemnt, and oh, you have the rental aggreement but where is the owner I.D.? 

AND than ok, you came with the rental aggrement and the owner I.D., but where is the owner

signature on the rental aggreement? and not 3 weeks have passed and you are late

on the application time and need to leave thailand and start all over again.

9 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

There is really no need to hire an agent to apply for a 90-day Non Imm O - retirement Visa

there is REALLY A need to hire agent for any kind of visa extention in thailand (besides 30 extention of VOA), because the laws are not acctually laws, and are being imposed / changed according to the IO mood, taste and hair style.

had i known about the LEGAL option of a visa agent, i would use it from the beginning and save to myself a lot of time and money. yes, money, because than i would not have to trasfer into thailand 800K baht...i could keep the amount in an interest bring account that could earn much more than the agent's fee.

indeed those agents are a spit in the face of the rule of law and anyone who tries hard to obey the law, but since thailand is not "rule of law" country but rule of "agents" and "special fees and costs" country, than why not to use the agent (as long as the agent does things legally, thai style)?

15 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You could of applied for the non-o visa at a nearby embassy or consulate that would not require proof it came from abroad.

but a thai embassy in a nearby country will require some "letter from embassy (applicant's home country embassy)" that states that the applicant is indeed retired, or whatever, and since most embassies don't issue such letters, it might, again, waste the applicant's time and resources.

Just now, JWRC said:

Your getting yourself into a state before anything has happened. Just follow the list and don't forget the bank letter and passport update as well. Most of it is a state of mind, settle down and just work through the requirements. It's not that hard.

SETTLE DOWN? i have been trying to get this retiremtn extention for 4 years now, and every time 

there is another story.

for example, first time i tried, i went to the immigration office and asked what is needed.

they told me 800K in the thai bank. so i brougth in some cash, because i allready had some money

in a thai bank, than came to the immigration office with all documents, than they tell me : "no, you need also to prove the money comes from overseas..."""??????!!!??

18 hours ago, thailand49 said:

I just did mines Jan 17th it was 35 days early, he told me can't do it come back in four days I showed him my airplane reservation that I was leaving in 4 days and he O.K. and did a step better told me to come back that same day afternoon to pick up everything so I could also obtain my Multi-entry in the afternoon! everything in my package was in order including the copy of the TM-30, he went through all my paperwork highlighted what was needed then ask me where is TM-30 I flip through the package and pointed to him!

what the hell is TM-30? IS IT also required for the retirement extention?

how can they complain about the government treatment of the situation , when the situation

is still developing?

8 cases are not much, allmost every coountry in the world has now few cases....

On 1/28/2020 at 5:03 AM, Vascoda said:

You need only a copy of his ID card signed by him. Otherwise, how do you know who you are renting from? Every rental contract I had in Thailand came with a copy of the owner's ID card signed by him. However, to prove who owns the unit (condo), some owners may be reluctant to give you the copy of the blue book signed by him. Of ocourse, you can verify the owner with the Juristic Person but some IOs won't take it. 

My soultion to all beaurouratic problem in Thailand is using an agent. buying/selling car, getting drivers license without residence certificate, getting extension without any unnecessary paper work, just go to agent's office sign the form and go to immigration to get your picutre taken. Some agents will also throw in 90-day reporting as a freebie. So you don't have to go to the immigration at all except once a yeaar to take your picture and go staright to the dek. No need for getting a queue number waiting for your turn. 

Knowing that Thailand is a corrupt country, these agents are godsend for staying in Thailand without any hassle, provided on has the ability to pay them and want to pay them.  That leaves me to do only one thing - make money.

can you reccomend a good agent in bangkok area that can help with extention on retirement (non-O visa and later the one year extention) multy entry?