Caldera

This hardly comes as a surprise. It would be cleaner if Cambodia just became another province of the PRC. Oh, scratch that, then Chinese couldn't go there to gamble anymore.

The biggest abuse that happens at Thai schools is that they provide more disinformation and brainwashing than any real education. Unless that changes, they will continue to produce generation after generation of Thais who are poorly equipped for what's needed both at work and as citizens.

So effectively this is a visa for Chinese who have bought, or are being "encouraged" to buy, a condo in Thailand.

Nice, that was quick. Now I'm curious what spin immigration will give it on their latest and greatest flyer...

Wristbands, CCTV, they really know how to excite prospective tourists!

Seriously, isn't it enough that foreign tourists have to quarantine for two weeks and undergo 2-3 tests? Shouldn't they then be considered "safe" and free to roam the country without silly surveillance measures?

I'll make sure to go out for a drink.

Oh no, not the dreaded wristband idea again.

It couldn't rain hard enough for me to be desperate enough to go to a stranger's room. In Central Bangkok, that is, in the countryside it might be different.

Sukhumvit Soi 4, you say, aka Nana? I'd dash to the nearest 7/11 or to the BTS station if in doubt. You're not made of sugar, you won't disintegrate in the rain. Good luck next time!

As with many other things, taking the middle path would be best. Mass tourism is very damaging, but having little tourism to none wouldn't be good either, as it would promote an insular and xenophobic mindset and as Thailand would miss out on lots of money that is up for grabs.

What I would like to see are some Smart Visa key figures. Based on what I've read about this "scheme", I suspect that it hasn't been very successful, so I would really like to know how many smart visas have been issued so far and what their distribution across types, industries and companies is.

30 minutes ago, Promula said:

Thanks.

There's also the 2 land border entries per year issue, so I'd fly of course.

Phuket Airport immigration has been known to dislike people coming in visa exempt frequently and/or spending a lot of time in Thailand. So I would have said, expect to be questioned or even denied entry after doing that a number of times back and forth.

What they will be like after Covid is anyone's guess.

Well at least they will have plenty of time for dry runs.

6 hours ago, Hal65 said:

I didn't get a work permit with my volunteer visa.

 

My agent checked and found out himself, that immigration is indeed giving the re-entry stamps to make money, but on their own the stamps aren't enough to get back into the country. He also said the US is likely to be blacklisted shortly.

Do you specifically mean that you currently wouldn't be able to get a CoE based upon volunteering without a work permit? That's probably true, but not quite the same as immigration failing to honor the re-entry permit when attempting to enter the country.

There's an agent solution to show 800k for retirement or 400k for marriage, so if and when it really comes to that, what are the chances that an agent will be around to help with those 500k !

I trust Richard Barrow to check his sources before posting something like this, so I assume that the unsigned document posted by him is legit.

With that said and maybe more of a general remark, such a document in itself doesn't prove anything. I could photoshop something like that myself, just changing the dates from the July document. And so could anyone else for that matter.

Legalize it.

Make it as safe as possible for all concerned. Make it fun for customers and lucrative for sex workers. Tax and insure them.

Seriously, it's 2020. Time to come out of the dark ages.

Obviously, if someone has an embassy letter, wanted to get a Covid-19 extension and couldn't get in last week due to overcrowding, they are well advised to go to immigration tomorrow. To avoid overstay penalties if this automatic extension renewal doesn't materialize.

Two things could then happen: Either immigration will process them as per usual, or they will send them home pending an official announcement. Just staying at home waiting/hoping for the latter to happen isn't a sensible approach.

31 minutes ago, jomtienisgood said:

A few words back you said Krungsri refused ?????????????

At a guess, Kasikorn refused him and Krungsri accepted him, which would be in line with many other recent reports. ????

I agree, it's time to introduce pragmatic solutions where that hasn't been done yet. Rapid tests keep getting better and become more readily available. The remaining risk from people who have been tested negative twice doesn't justify locking them up for two weeks in state quarantine.

I agree and I liked the chess competition. But shouldn't this be in the Pattaya forum?