Mike Teavee

I’m sorry but in the eyes of immigration it is 100% your responsibility to fully understand your permission to stay in Thailand (even if it’s them that stamp you in wrong) so I can’t see your school doing anything to help here. Although the fine won’t go up anymore (it’s 500b per day overstay but capped at 20,000b) you should make arrangements to leave the country asap as if you’re caught by immigration you would face at least a 1 year ban. Am sure others can confirm/correct but it’s my understanding that some land borders will send you back to leave via an airport if you’re on a significant overstay so best to check before heading to UT.

Snow Girl (Netflix)… https://m.imdb.com/title/tt15787870/

At the end of the day it’s all down to whether you believe the agents are giving you enough value to warrant their fee & for me they do. I’ve posted before my experience of doing an extension in Bangkok a couple of years back where not only did the agent catch that my Bankbook had consolidated entries that wouldn’t be acceptable to Immigration (they took me to the bank to help get the statements I needed) they also got me in for my extension 42 days before it was due when CW was only accepting people extending 3 days before their extension expires which saved a holiday I had planned/booked. I knew nothing of these 2 things before I went into the agent so would have used them anyway but it’s just a couple of examples of where the agent added real value to me. End of the day I think if the agents service cost 100,000b none but the most desperate would use them, if the service cost 100b everybody but the most stubborn would use them ????

I have this “Argument” with 2 of my mates all the time… I pay 8,000b for an Agent to do my extension (keep 800k in the bank but more to have funds available in an emergency than for immigration) + 4,000 for a multi re-entry permit so 12,000b total = 1,000b pm. They don’t pay anything as they’re working & their companies do it all for them but if they weren’t working they would “Definitely Do it Themselves” for 1,900 + 3,800 = 5,700b so save 6,300b per year. Then they sit back & light up a cigarette with no thought about how much money they could save if they gave up their pack a day habit (at least 4,500b pm). My (laboured) point is we all have different values we place on things & what might not be worth it to you is worth it to me.

I use Maneerat & they are excellent but for everything I’ve had to do with Immigration via them, I have needed my TM30 which is obviously linked to my Pattaya address. Might be worth running it past them to get their thoughts. BTW as you pay 12,500 I’m assuming you don’t keep the 800k in the bank (I do & pay them 8k to do my extension), if this is the case then the agent I mentioned in my previous post would not help you as they mainly deal with Work Permit/Visa related business & will only do retirement extensions if you keep the 800k in the bank..

It’s possible you’ll have a problem doing your extension in Pattaya if your residence address is in Bangkok (as a minimum I would expect you to have to change your address to Pattaya, get the extension & then change it back to Bangkok) so might make things easier to just use an Agent in Bangkok for your extension. I used to use AsiaVisa Travel, they’re located on Sukhumvit Soi 24, about 3 minute walk from Phrom Pong BTS station.

The problem with not updating your bank book on a regular basis is you end up with consolidated entries which are not acceptable to Immigration when doing your extension so you need extra statements from your Bank. Immigration want to see the end of day total on your account for everyday to ensure that you haven’t gone below the limits.

I can’t speak for CW as I always used an agent to do my 90 day reports when I lived in Bangkok but at Jomtien IO, as long as you’re on a Long Term Visa & are returning to the same address then you don’t need to do a new TM30 & should have no problems doing an online report (I had no problem doing mine after my last UK trip reset the cycle). My advice would be to try it online with 10-12 days to go & if it doesn’t work go to CW or get an agent to file it for you. [there is also the mail-in option but I’ve never tried using it]

This is normally a “Residency Certificate” from Immigration which (in Pattaya at least) can be got by people who are on visa exempt / tourist visas. However, if Chiang Mai is only giving these out to long term visa holders you could try explaining to them that the reason you need the RC is so you can open a bank account & start the long term visa process but failing that you could ask your Embassy for a letter confirming where you live which should satisfy the bank. And if all that fails, book a weeks holiday to Pattaya & use an agent there to sort out your conversion to non-o, 1st years extension & 1st bank account (23k for visa/extension, 3,500 for bank account)

Was at Chiang Mai night market last night & sat there whilst a young (I’d guess 21-23) Caucasian girl gingerly steered her big bike into a parking space then couldn’t move it back to straighten it up so her bf riding a similar bike parks his & goes over to move hers. Then they walk into the bar & start downing Changs…. An accident waiting to happen if I’ve ever seen one…

In the Philippines a few years back, it was quite common to get a “Hey Joe” greeting if you were “Long Nose” (White).

Edit… YES!!! Just earned my 1st post badge & on my birthday as well… Happy Birthday/1st Post badge to me, Happy Birthday/1st Post badge to me, Happy Birthday/1st Post badge, Happy Birthday/1st Post badge, Happy Birthday/1st Post badge to MTV

Just never type Google into Google… or you could break the Internet!

Approx 1 or 2 months back Google (Win10/Chrome) started this annoying behaviour of returning search results (I could see the link I wanted) & then immediately refreshing the page sticking loads of ADs above it. So I switched to Brave (which very helpfully imported all of my bookmarks etc…) On my iPhone I mainly use Safari so don’t have the same problem.

The fee is 300b at Jomtien IO… https://pcec.club/ResidencyCertificate You were lucky ????

I needed a residency cert to get my Tax Identification Number (TIN), normally I use an agent to do everything immigration related but as I was already at the Tax Office in Jomtien I thought I’d do it myself. Went in with everything I thought I needed (Passport, condo lease, TM30, Photos etc…), no queuing outside, approx 20 minutes filling in the form, getting the necessary copies & waiting my turn then pay 300b & come back 1 hour later to pick the Cert up. This would have been July last year & I’ll admit that immigration wasn’t that busy but my understanding is you go in & talk (nicely) to the guy at the desk who tells you what forms/paperwork/photocopies you need… & once you have those gives you a queue number (1 guy in front of me getting a Residency Cert, vast majority of people were getting extensions).

TBH I’m more annoyed about the <deleted>ty Netflix support i got. The Nvidia Shield would be my #1 choice but it’s very expensive compared to other options (I have a couple of Hi-Media boxes that probably cost me less than 1/2 the price). Off for a 3 week trip up north tomorrow, when I get back I’ll order an “Eric Box” (in Bangkok it’s a “Bob Box” ) which will give me all of the streaming channels, can’t remember how much it costs but I know it’s less than 2,000b more than 1,000b and comes with everything including live sports & P2V events.

Have a (actually 2) Android box(es) + 2 chrome casts (long story short I spent a couple of years with 2 lives split between Singapore & Bangkok so I basically have 2 of everything) but it only supports 1080p so if I were to go down this route then I would need to buy another android box (am loving the excuse for an upgrade ???? ) Oh I also have a couple of FireTabs ???? - But don't use them for TV except downloading Amazon content when I'm travelling,

So today I have cancelled my (Premium) Netflix subscription as it seems impossible for me to access Netflix from the App on my Samsung TV & Netflix's advice was to keep unplugging/plugging in my TV until the problem went away (Hello, have you seen the power points in Thailand & do you know how much this TV cost!) Gutted as the GF loves Netflix for the subtitles so am sure I'll be back before too long but I really am fcked off with them so she can pay if she wants it back...

I just get a Multi Re-entry with my annual extension (Pay an agent 8k to do all of my extension paperwork/running around for me + another 4K for the multi re-entry permit) I'm just one of those guys who if I didn't have a re-entry permit, I would go through the "Standard Channel" with my Business Class ticket to get one, "Walking Back" behind the scenes (as has been commented before) is just "Bad Form" to me... Hey.. To Each His Own ????

Hands... Touching Hands... Reaching Out... Touching You... If the 1st words in your head are not "Sweet Caroline... ... ... Da Da Da Da" ... Then I think you might be dead.

Sorry I thought all Condo purchases under the "Foreign Quota" came with a Yellow Book but clearly you can buy a Condo in Foreign name and have a Blue Book (albeit your name cannot be on it) - As a newbie to buying property in Thailand are you able to get a Yellow Book for your condo or does having the Blue book mean you can't do this? As others have said I would take everything that had my name & address on it to Immigration, if you're really concerned then maybe can go beforehand & get a residency certificate (say you need it to buy a car/motorcycle or for your Tax return) & take that along as well.

If you have a "Blue Book" then I'm guessing the Condo is in your wife's name so her ID alongside a letter confirming that you live there should be enough. If you have a "Yellow Book" then that should be suffice as proof of address. If the Condo is in a Thai Company name then I'm assuming you'll be able to get a letter from the accountant/lawyer to prove you live there

In my defense in most countries you would not be able to access "Land Side" services when you were "Airside" Or to put it another way, the moment the IO stamps your Exit from Thailand you're considered as having left Thailand so to access a service in Thailand, then technically you are in the country illegally... But thanks for being the 3rd person to point that out to me, I had already acknowledged the guy who said you could do this, ME, wouldn't dream of even trying to do it so I get my re-entry permit before I go to the airport.

Thanks for this, I hadn't even considered that you could do it that way... Great Info...