Caldera

1 hour ago, Phillip9 said:

The keeping hold of his passport part is a bit strange.  I think maybe he misunderstood and nobody should need to keep his passport.  In my case, I paid this extra fee and nobody ever kept my passport.  

So what was the procedure like? You paid the fee, went to immigration to apply for the visa, then you had to go back to immigration after a few weeks to get your visa stamped into your passport? Did they give you an "under consideration" stamp first?

I feel much safer now that the watchman himself has checked the canal.

I'll sue you if you falsely accuse me of studying in Australia. That's hilarious.

That any potential investor would face major inconvenience getting into the country might also be a factor.

This will be interesting and I guess nobody will be able to tell you with certainty. I wouldn't exactly call your overstays shortish, especially the first one. 2-3 days are probably overlooked, but what definitely doesn't work in your favor is that you have two separate overstays within quite a short time.

Two things I'd like to see when they relaunch in Thailand next year:

1) A PayPal debit card linked to the PayPal account, as already offered in other countries.

2) A better integration with local payment systems such as PromptPay. Instant withdrawals to Thai bank accounts.

I would miss the abundance of morally uninhibited people to have fun with. ????

In terms of scope this is a complete joke, especially when you consider that they are at least 10 years late to the party. Add another 10+ years of expected delays and Bangkok won't be smart for a long time to come!

57 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

Would love to hear your remarks had you been in his place.  It's always easy to project your bravado in the face of dangerous circumstances as you type away on your keyboard in the safety of your home.  LOL  You ain't foolin' nobody.

Nonsense. Politicians who anger the masses take a risk, it comes with their job and I don't feel sorry for them. Being a US senator also comes with perks, after all. They could have chosen a different career path, as I did.

That this idiot is thinking that he's important enough for someone to pay for an attack on him is delusional, maybe he should go easy on the coke.

3 hours ago, spiekerjozef said:

Same situation, got now a 1 year extension based on volunteer.

To be clear, you had an education visa and they issued an extension based on volunteering for that? That's interesting in the sense that some assume(d) you'd need a Non-O visa first.

Nothing. I came to Thailand to escape stress, and it works. I just cannot take anything seriously in the fairytale kingdom.

42 minutes ago, greggraham said:

Well, equally, coming from the U.S. Embassy it's not not-credible. 

I agree. Clearly immigration has told them. I'm sure they have high ranking contacts.

Now, if they would also inform their colleagues working at Thailand's many immigration offices, that would be great. ????

It would have been a nice project for immigration to FINALLY fix this during this time of peace and quiet.

6 minutes ago, Daithi85 said:

I'm surprised visa agents havent penciled in a price for a 30 day extension with/without Embassy letter yet.

From reports, visa agents can help you get a medical extension without seeing a medical doctor. By going that route, no embassy letter is required.

1 hour ago, tomazbodner said:

I was happy when they took over and stopped the nightly killings. At the beginning it looked like they were really going to clean up the house - uproot corruption, mainly. And there were signs they were doing it.

 

But then it all stopped and junta started behaving like politicians. Then overstayed their welcome.

That's a very naive view, ignorant of the long and inglorious history of military coups in Thailand.

Each new government, military and civilian alike, sees the need to purge personnel affiliated with its opposition from the public service once taking office. What better way to do that than a (selective) anti corruption crackdown? As they are all corrupt, it's like shooting sitting ducks. The gullible public sees some action, the public service gets stacked with cronies of the new government, it's the perfect smoke screen.

To be the world's safest destination, Thailand needs to become a destination yet again first!