NightSky

15 minutes ago, Naamblar2014 said:

Hey wrench,  turn left in 50 metres nah krup... You bloody wrench.. ????

Or you could replace 'wrench' with various other tools / adjectives including but not limited to...

• Spanner
• Hoe
• Crank
• Dip stick
• Oily rag
• Spatula ????

1 minute ago, Suradit69 said:

so that others sitting at home in their bedsits can tell you how..

Speak for yourself, I'm sat in my private villa.

It sounds like one of the typical 'frustrations' experienced by foreigners living in a country where they do not speak the local language. Although it did also sound as if you didn't know where you were heading, i.e. the name of the destination is usually helpful.

Yaek 3 doesn't mean much at all if it doesn't exist. Sukhumvit Soi 56 will have a sub soi yes but it wouldn't necessarily be called a 'yaek' as you described, hence the confusion.

Also didn't you have Google maps with you, it might have been useful?

In this instance pay the man and get a motorbike taxi to help you after locating the name of the location (or soi number even) that you want to travel to.

7 days should be fine if its a newish bike and battery as newer batteries tend to hold a charge better than older ones. One week should be fine though. 

You could disconnect one connector from the battery if you went away for longer and it would be an additional anti theft measure. 

In the past I used to wheel my bike into the house when we went away for security although if you live in a condo this may prove difficult ???? 

My car battery once went flat when i went away for 6 weeks and my wife didn't start the car in that time. 

I see the same thing in all cultures, races and countries. The other day I was walking out of 7/11 and what looked like a Thai bloke who was just as intoxicated and walked passed me talking all sorts of gibberish to me..

I just ignored and walked on by.

Who cares!

If you want it to stop then why not protest against alcohol sales as it is also probably one of the biggest killers in the world.

I have these stamps (below) in my passport to support my Non O visa based on marriage and my one year extension and even though I've been here quite a while I've always use 90 day visas and I never needed to renew a one year extension before or do 90 day reporting following a re-entry permit before so I thought I should seek clarification from the good sense of fellow forum members since any time I have asked an immigration officer a question they seem to:-

1. take a deep breath as If I've asked them to do something that involves a lot of energy and..

2. they usually look the other way as If they don't have the time of day to answer my measly little foreigner questions.. ????

So my question is, would I be correct in thinking the following renewal and reporting schedule based on the stamps below..

Would I be correct in thinking this is the 'extension of stay' which expires 2nd May 2019 and therefore to renew this I must renew approximately 1 month prior (around beginning of April) and show my '400k THB money for the year' seasoned for 2 months prior (since 2nd Feb) based on marriage and non O visa extension renewal, are these the correct dates?

This is my previous entry stamp so I need to report to immigration 90 days following the entry stamp in this case beginning of Feb 2019?

So based on these half illegible stamps, to summarize I need to..

• Report for 90 day report Feb 1st 2019
• Ensure 400k in the account for Feb 1st (to support extension of stay renewal application in April)
• Apply at immigration April 1st (ironic?) for renewal of extension of stay
• And following successful application collect my extension again on May 2nd and happy days again for 89 days until the next 90 day report, am I right?
• Then repeat this rigmarole routine again next year

Your opinion would be appreciated, thanks and have a nice day.

PS - oh and also would 6 pages of a passport be enough for another year of extensions with 2 additional entry permits to enter and exit Thailand next year again or should I take a new passport with me to the next renewal so I will have a brand new passport to accommodate the unnecessarily large extension of stay stamps next year too.

3 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

That would work, though this could come down to your local labour department office.

 

If you are married to a Thai then consider getting a Class O 'support Thai wife' visa instead of a Class B which requires a lot more paperwork (from your company) - it is easier (we were given this advice several years back from our local immigration office chief and it has proven to be correct).

 

Some good and correct advice above from Scottjouro.

Yes thanks I do have a Non 0 visa already after years of Non B visa's.

Although its the work permit extension I am asking about renewing whilst I no longer require the 4 employees, maybe only 2.

I heard different stories including that 2 employees was OK to support a work permit if the foreigner is married to a Thai but I also heard conflicting stories about the possibilities of the wife being an employee and counting as one of those employees. I think I will try it, i.e. wife plus one other and see what comes from that.

Thanks

8 hours ago, onera1961 said:

Yes, and another can be her mother. Give some social security benefits to the old lady also ????

Do you have only 2 employees being your Thai wife and one other in order to support work permit renewal?

Thanks for your responses so far.

I've been reading other forum threads and would I be correct in thinking that If I completed an online Open University degree with hons (in any subject rather than teaching because I could transfer 50% of the credits from a previous unfinished chemistry degree to an Open degree) I could then potentially teach in Thailand with this degree with a 'waiver' license.

During this time working as a teacher on the 'waiver' I could then potentially apply for 'PGCEi' at Nottingham and complete that in 1 year whilst working towards a full teachers licence. Would this be one route?

I'm just wanting to keep as many future options open as possible before I apply to complete this degree so I do appreciate your advice if this is a possible route to 'teaching full time' in Thailand?

I see, so taking a degree would allow me only to teach with a temporarily licence. Would this also apply to language schools and do I actually need a full degree to do this?

I'm considering whether completing the degree would actually make any difference whatsoever to 'any' potential legal employment as well as teaching. 

As for choosing another country to retire to, I've lived in Thailand for 16 years, I'm married to a Thai with a business here so 'choosing another retirement country' isn't as easy a decision as it may have been 20 years ago before I came here.

Ok so Im sure many of you will be amused by this although it is a legitimate question if you wouldn't mind helping I would appreciate that greatly..

I currently run my own business and I plan to be able to 'get older' without worrying about the need to work for a living however I always thought that If I were to retire from the business any time (any age after 45 years old) I would maybe look at doing something else to fill time and maybe look at teaching English as a possibility.

However one snag is that I never completed my degree back in the UK many years ago. Not that I needed one to get to be where I am today although I was reading that a Bachelors degree (or equivalent) is necessary to teach in Thailand and after reading about all the recent crack downs on the legitimacy of teachers in Thailand I was wondering whether to complete my degree with a long distance learning open university degree whilst I still have the opportunity to do so.  

What would your thoughts be on this? I was also thinking If I were to apply for other work in Thailand rather than continue to operate my own business would I also be better prepared by having a degree and would it really be necessary considering I've operated several successful businesses (keeping in mind that to complete the degree is time consuming and costly and if not necessary would be a pointless exercise).

Any thoughts would be appreciated thank you.

Whatever the final outcome I just wish they would hurry up and get it done with, the pound dropped off a cliff edge the day after the referendum in Feb 2016 and hasn't budged since. 

Hurry up and stop messing around I say,  so that we can give Sterling and UK business (and overseas expats who rely on UK funds) a chance again. 

The minimum you will pay for social fund, taxes and accounting all managed by an accounting company will be around 8000 baht per month. This includes your own taxes paid on foreigners minimum salary and employing 4 Thai employees at the minimum wage and paying their social fund.

My question is though, now that I am married to a Thai is it OK to only employee 2 Thai employees for purpose of renewing my work permit next year and can one of those employees be my Thai wife?

I hope things don't get out of hand and that we can learn from mistakes of history.

Raising the bar a little more again, its a win win for everyone expect the foreigner in Thailand as usual and the Thai family members he/she contributes to and supports.

The entire world seems to be 'anti foreigner' at the moment. For the past decade or two globalization has allowed freedom of travel and these few years recently are a step backwards. Expect more 'raising the bar' for foreigners everywhere for the next 4-5 (ish) years.

In this particular case the embassies have less work to do, the Thai banks generate more 'sitting' income and the Thai government expect to see foreigners with more money to stay in Thailand. Its also potentially an easily accessible 'health insurance' cover to pay for emergency treatment.

They win - you(we) lose...

Mai Pen Rai... YOU pay!

On 9/22/2018 at 1:06 AM, ubonjoe said:

I think you would have to have the TM8 form completed with a photo attached and the required copies ready to avoid the 200 baht service charge.

makes total sense thanks Joe

Every country has some people who will discriminate against the 'unknown' or attempt to take advantage of those less familiar. In general tourists will have a very different view on things than longer term expats or foreign residents of the Kingdom.

For example being called farrang by every tom dick and harry sometimes makes things impersonal whereas as a resident you might want to feel more included as a 'human' by be called by your real name. However being called farrang is much better than being called 'hey you' although 'excuse me sir/madam what is your name please' might be MUCH more respectful (and yes I do use sir/madam myself when addressing people whom Ive just met and whom Im yet to discover their name).

As for duel pricing for foreigners that's just a scam and shouldn't happen anywhere (although it does happen in many countries I haven't seen it in the UK yet. from what Iv'e seen instead in the UK they charge their own citizens double prices as well as foreigners in the tourist areas and are blatantly obvious about it on the price stickers).

Normal prices are far too expensive in Thailand these days against some other currencies (GBP) anyhow.

The one time I felt really discriminated against was when I walked into an approved APPLE dealer store a few years ago and I ask for a refund for a stylus pen that broke the moment I opened it from the packaging.

The young male Thai clerk say very loud 'this is Thailand' so everyone could hear in the shop and they all turned to stare. This was totally over the top and unwarranted and I suspect the young fella had been caught at the wrong moment but even still I remember that event as an eye opener. He looked so young I probably had been paying taxes in Thailand almost as long as he'd been living on this planet.

Generally though I feel welcomed as a second class citizen unless I have money to spend (oops did that slip out) but isn't that unfortunately the way of the world these days in MOST places? Its a shame. 

On other days I feel MOST welcomed, people are not all the same and should not be pigeon holed. I would feel there is much more discrimination in other parts of the world and Thailand being a place where it is least apparent.

Lets not spoil it by complaining about it too much? :-)

Just to update, as Ubon Joe confirmed the re-entry permit is available as described although one thing I did notice is that they ask for 1200 Baht and no longer seem to provide the option of filling the form in yourself. They take a photo and its printed on the paper and they hand you a receipt for 200 baht for the privilege. Its handy although I would have preferred to have been given the option since I had a photo and I had to wait 20 minutes anyway so I could have completed the form myself anyhow.

All done thanks for the info Joe

On 9/16/2018 at 1:41 AM, rodney earl said:

NO it is not. Anyone who is sentenced to death has done an horrific crime and deserves it. I think more about the poor victim than I do the person who committed the crime.!!!

NO one has the right to take another human life.

Its inhumane and simply wrong.  

Im on an extension of stay from a Non O visa and I need to fly out of Thailand for a few weeks. Its been a while since I needed to apply a re entry permit to maintain my visa extension. Would anyone know if the re entry permit is still available at Suvarnabhumi airport and If yes..

1. where is the desk located now (is it in the same place at the bottom of the escalator just before passport control?)

2. how much does the re entry permit cost now (from memory it was maybe around 900thb to 1900thb?)

3. how long does it take to apply please? (I remember I previously needed to wait about 20-30 minutes)

Thanks in advance