Mike Teavee

6 minutes ago, mixed said:

I am supposed to fly back to Australia for ten days tomorrow. Now I am being asked to self isolate for 2 weeks, which would be done at my parents house, they are both over 75. Then I don't know if I'll be allowed back into Thailand in 10 days, as it could have gotten crazy by then.

 

So I won't fly. The ticket was cheap, I don't think a refund or even change of date was allowed. Does anyone think I have a chance of getting anything back from the Qantas? It wouldn't have to be money, another flight on a different date would be fine.

Check with your airline, most are offering free rebooking irrespective of Normal ticket conditions 

I’m in the same boat as you (albeit heading to UK in May) & no way would I make the trip under the current conditions.

who are you flying with? I’m flying with Qatar who have already offered free rebooking or a 1 year travel voucher for anybody traveling before end of June

17 hours ago, BritTim said:

The change in rules for Taiwanese citizens (who must now get a visa in advance) does not affect US citizens. However, there is a high chance that visa exempt entry for US citizens will be suspended before the end of this month. It depends on how the epidemic develops.

US (& UK) are now on extended reporting but no cancellation of VE (yet!)

Edit see @jackdd post #86 for more info 

9 minutes ago, Mikeasq60 said:

Travel deals abound in Thailand right now please stay in effect until June. Lol

They don’t internally... UTP-USM 3,600 THN, USM-CNX 3,800 THB ????

4 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

You used to cope without one didn't you?  The privacy, data mining, is what turns me off from using one.  never had one.  May get one some day when my 3g voice and text only flip top gives out or the networks stop supporting 3g as they did for my old 2g phone. 

Yep, used to cope fine without one just like my ancestors coped without electricity, running water, inside toilet, sliced bread etc... ???? 

Joking aside, I understand people’s concerns around privacy with the AOT app & will only be loading it on my old smartphone that I use when traveling, just wanted to highlight the fact that these devices can be useful tools 

I’m sure you could pick up a cheap Android device for 1-2000 THB, worth it for Google Maps alone.

5 hours ago, Mac98 said:t does, however, fetch fetching ladies, fast food, and faster taxis. That's good enough.

If you had a smartphone you’d be able to do all of the above much easier & with more choice...

Girls:TF, Badoo, Tinder. WeChat etc...

Food:Grab, FoodPanda etc...

Taxi:Grab

plus a myriad of other things (online Banking/shopping, pay bills, book tickets etc... 

honestly don’t know how I would cope without one, e.g. I’m island hoping for 3 weeks, left the laptop at hone just need my mobile & chromecast stick Incase I want to watch a bit of Netflix/Amazon Prime on the hotel TV).

5 hours ago, Susco said:

Nobody gonna miss them, since they just apply for a visa BEFORE arrival and continue to enter Thailand in their usual numbers.

Was in Jomtien last week & the majority of Farang visitors seemed to be from Russia so I’m guessing the beach vendors, restaurants etc... will miss them 

in Koh Samet this week & a largish group we’re at Ao Prao beach earlier so I’m guessing their absence would be felt here also

17 hours ago, CharlieH said:

A european could move anywhere within the EC through many countries and not have one stamp in his passport. 

Neither would they have a stamp in their passport from Hong Kong (which is one of the countries in the spotlight) 

5 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

As for travel plans ...I agree. I'm going to Saigon this Friday. Not so concerned about covid 19 but being banged up in quarantine wouldn't be joy.

Best get a Visa sorted if you’re from UK (or 1 of the other 7 European nations impacted) 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-vietnam-visa/vietnam-suspends-visa-free-travel-for-8-european-countries-over-coronavirus-concerns-idUSKBN20W19X

Received an email from Qatar last night, anybody traveling before 30th June can change their flights for free or receive a voucher valid for 1 year.

I’m booked BKK-MAN mid-May so will make a call 1st week in May (obviously if they ban Travelers from Thailand transferring in Doha my decision will be made for me).

I'm assuming the Star Clipper came come from Singapore (did the Singapore-Port Klang-Phuket cruise on a different Star ship a few years back) & given the fact that SG is seen as one of the high(ist) risk countries, doesn't seem like the wisest thing to do, onshore screening or no onshore screening. 

FWIW, I agree with the comments that Cruises are an awesome way to spend a holiday, just make sure you take some stretchy pants (guaranteed weight gain with all that free food & cheap(ish) booze knocking about), just not a great time to do one (especially in Asia) while COv19 is doing the rounds.

38 minutes ago, Boomer6969 said:

Have you tried to clear all your browsing data in Chrome ? I have found out that if I go to Eurosport Player without VPN they leave a cookie(?) storing your actual location. They all have different policies, at the other end of the spectrum the Swiss channel I use for F1 verifies location only when you initiate a stream.

Thanks, I didn't think to try that as Chrome is supposed to sync all Website data / cookies etc... across all devices & it worked ok my ChromeBook so was assuming it was something else.

Have just cleared all cookies, webapp data & a few other things from Chrome and BBC Iplayer is working fine now, so it did the trick :) 

Thanks Again... 

MTV

10 hours ago, MJKT2014 said:

In meantime I find it easier just to use BBC iPlayer with a VPN for that service providers catchup content by the show to it can be seen start to end.

Which VPN do you use?

I use PureVPN & BBC detects I'm not in the UK if I try to access it on my Win10 machine, but doesn't if I use it on my Chromebook (In both cases I'm using Chrome to access the IPlayer site).

4 minutes ago, Lotusflower6 said:

Thank you everyone who took the time to respond.

 

Everything is much clearer and it seems to get my Single entry Tourist Visa from the UK is the way forward. ???? Then exit the kingdom and get a single entry non 0 visa From Ventiana. 

If your Husband already has his Non-O (or Non-OA, though I'd recommend the Non-O), you should be able to get your Non-O Dependant before you leave the UK.

However, I did see in an earlier post that you may get married in Thailand, if this is after you've left the UK then Vientiane (Laos) is one option, please ensure you book an appointment online a few weeks before going so as to avoid disappointment, you will not get into the Embassy without an appointment & they tend to be booked out a couple of weeks in advance.

Ho Chi Minh & Penang are also good other options for Non-O's, as is Savannakhet (also Laos) & these do not require prior appointments, I suggest you research the best place to go for your personal circumstances, @ubonjoeis the man when it comes to upto date recommendations as the best places to visit for your particular circumstances. 

Good Luck with your upcoming wedding, getting your Visa, & your future retirement to Thailand ????

9 minutes ago, passiflora said:

In this case, this. Is only the subscription, when you paid, you receive the password to ad on the app on your tv

Thanks, will save this for when my Venom subscription ends in September as I find myself more interested in catching-up on UK TV (BBC has some cracking drama series) nowadays than watching Live sports 

11 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes

Look at the link I posted earlier.

It can  be the spouse, children and even their parents if they are over 50.

I couldn't see any reference to financial requirements in the link you provided so by their absence I'm assuming there are none (on the "Dependant")... You learn something new everyday.... 

Still doesn't make sense to me that one couple needs 1.6Million in their account & the other only 800K with the only difference between the 2 being a piece of paper (which from the way the OP was written seems to be being obtained solely to take advantage of this fact), but them's the rules (for now).

20 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

it is not that unusual for family members to be able to stay without meeting any special requirements for stays in other countries.

I can't think of any countries where family members (or the person sponsoring them) don't have to meet special requirements to bring their Spouses over (Certainly UK & USA have minimum finance limits that have to be met, in the case of the UK this increases if your Wife has children that are not UK citizens) 

Again, it doesn't make sense to me that the Thai government has decided 800K is the amount that a Single Retiree needs to live on but 2 Retirees can live on the same amount if they have a magic piece of paper 

[NB I do understand the logic of 400K if married to a Thai as they can work to get additional income and have access to social medical care etc.... but 2 non-Thai's can't work & don't have access).

Again, them's the rules so I'll just scratch/shake my head & put it in the box with the rest of the stuff that makes no logical sense to me ???? 

Just now, ubonjoe said:

What was written certainly implies it might not be possible.

It is still false and/or misleading info from that website.

Fair do's & I edited my post as I  misunderstood your 1st reply.

So can a Spouse "Ride the Coattails" of their partner & the two only need 800K in the Bank to cover both Visas?

That doesn't make any logical sense to me, but TiT...

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

False info. A family member does not have to be less than 50 to get an extension of stay.

See: https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_20  An extension of stay based upon retirement is 2.22.

I never said that they did, what I quoted was a legal website which suggested that if they were over 50 then Immigration might  look to the "Dependant" to get their own Non-O VIsa on the basis of being over 50 & so will need to individually meet the finance criteria... 

Can you please confirm whether a Dependant can "Ride the coat tails" of the Visa holder without any additional financial requirements or will the wife also need to have 800K  

17 hours ago, passiflora said:

Got mine here, 
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dYt7eV1

No freeze, 100% satisfied 

 

Do they deliver anything "Physical" to you for this or is it purely a subscription service that you connect to from your PC, Android Box, Smart TV etc... 

I use venom from http://www.footymadstreams.com/ 

They no longer seem to offer Venom as a service (though it still works for me & I've used it in UK, Singapore & Thailand with no problems), from their recent advert they offer... 

Limitless iptv  3000 baht  1 year

Deluxe iptv 2000 baht 1 year

Lightning  iptv  1750 baht 1 year

or buy a combo package

Deluxe and Lightning 2999 baht

Limitless and Lightning  3500 baht

Buy Limitless and Deluxe both services for 3999baht

Limitless monthly 450 baht a month

[My Venom subscription runs till September so haven't looked into what the differences is between the various packages or why you might want more than one].

You can email [email protected] for a 24 hour free trial.

They also offer fully loaded Android boxes (I have 2 of them) with the latest VOD streaming apps & a Forum/Filelink site where you can download streaming apps (I mostly use Titanium & Morphix)

If you're more interested in watching VOD, then I highly recommend subscribing to Netflix, very easy to do & I pay approx 350 THB pm for 2 simultaneous streams so the GF can watch her stuff while I'm watching mine.

35 minutes ago, Lotusflower6 said:

Sorry for being unclear

 

I would like to  know what Visa I need from the UK to enable me to convert to a retirement extension and use my future husband 800,000THB as a dependent 

 

 

Short answer is any Visa or even a Visa exempt can be converted in-country to a Retirement extensions as long as your > 50 years old but if you use your future husband's 800K for your retirement visa/extension then what will he use for his (especially as nowadays he needs to maintain 800K for at least 5 months & 400K for the other 7)? 

If you mean you would like to get a Non-O Dependant visa on the back of your Husband having a Non-O "Retirement" Visa, then again you can enter on any Visa (or Visa Exempt) to do this, or do it in the UK before moving over, but it's my understanding that you also need to have 800K in the bank (i.e. you would need to have 1.6Million for the 2 of you). 

I tried Google to see if I could confirm this & couldn't find anything (so am probably wrong) but what I did find is this...

Thai Dependent Visa Application

Just to be clear, your dependents constitute your immediate relatives such as your spouse, children and parents. In particular, the following long term visa holders are qualified to sponsor their dependents to come and stay with them in Thailand:

• – Holders of  business visas with valid work permits;
• – Holders of retirement visas. The dependent though should be younger than 50 years old (or)
• – Otherwise, the applicant will be advised to obtain a retirement visa;
• – Holders of Non O visas for people working in foundations and charities with valid work permits.

https://gam-legalalliance.com/bringing-your-dependents-to-stay-with-you-in-thailand/

Which suggests that if you are > 50, they will look to you to get your own Non-O "Retirement" Visa and so would need your own 800K.

7 hours ago, MarkT63 said:

We got our visas in Dubai in June last year before coming to Thailand - is October significant?

Mandatory Health Insurance came into force for Non-OA Visa holders from October (31st I believe), there are lots of threads on here about it, I just picked a random one here... 

... Policies have to be approved & cover at least 400,000 InPatients + 40,000 OutPatients.

NB this is not (currently) required for Non-O Visa holders so technically your Wife doesn't need it (I know, it's crazy but them's the rules) 

Jury is out as to whether you need it when re-entering Thailand if you got your Visa before October but you will certainly need it to extend your permission to stay in June. you almost certainly fell foul of this on your last entry, hence being initially refused & then being granted entry, if you plan on leaving Thailand before your permission to stay ends (Should have been given 1 year on your last entry) then you need to look into getting the health insurance.

You can (currently) resolve the issue by changing over to a Non-O, but this will mean starting the whole process again & you will need to wait until your Non-OA comes to an end (June) then exit the country & either pick-up a Non-O from somewhere like Penang OR coming back on a Visa Exempt / Tourist Visa & converting in-country - If you plan on exiting & re-entering before June then you're a little stuck I'm afraid.  

Per my previous post, my understanding is that the Elite Family VIsa is 800K for the holder & then an additional 700K for each family member (so 1.5Million for you & your wife) this provides 10 years (2 x 5) Visas and comes with various benefits (Limo transfer, Golf, Spa Days etc... ), the 5 year Visa (also comes with the perks) is normally 500K per person, have you managed to do a deal with Thai Elite to purchase 2 x 5 year Individual PE memberships for 800K and do these come with the benefits?

4 hours ago, MarkT63 said:

Hi Lamyai

 

800,000 is the price quoted for 5 year Elite family to cover both of us.

 

Cheers

I think you’ll find it’s 800k for you +700k for your wife 

It does give you 10 years though instead of the 500k for 5 years. 

16 hours ago, tpkhk said:

Here's the link for Bangkok Flight Services (BFS - Flight Services).  Inbound/Outbound.

 

You can book them online, but you may want to call/email to make sure services are available.  Believe they are but better to confirm before you pay / have to wait for a refund.

 

Also, if it is for the next few weeks - as the other poster mentioned - save your money.  The whole airport is likely to be empty in and outbound.

 

https://www.bangkokflightservices.com/home/bfs-services/premium-airport-services/

 

 

Before I got my TLM Membership I booked with these guys, but was travelling to DM not BKK, I contacted them once I'd realised my mistake & they refunded my card immediately, no problems.