Caldera

1 hour ago, JackThompson said:

I recall a frequent poster in the past - Chang Wattana office area - said he always did this to save the wasted day.  Now, even those who have the spare-time may be doing this soon.

Interesting! Any idea how to find an agent that offers that, in Bangkok? I've always thought that you have to go in person unless you're incapacitated.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Incorrect as you can't get VISA waiver at land borders with Vietnam, only the main airports.

No, you can enter Vietnam visa exempt at land borders as well.

If you fly in, however, I'm pretty sure that both the airline and Vietnamese immigration will want to see your ticket out. I don't know for sure what will happen if you show them a bus ticket instead of a flight ticket. My guess (!) is that it will more likely be the airline that won't accept it.

Bit late to worry about breaking the law now, five years into his coup.

Personally I don't think he will be removed, I think he might simply tire of the job once he loses his special S44 powers.

On 3/4/2019 at 10:42 AM, steve73 said:

At 43 years old, and with a (claimed) income of at least 65k bt/month. I'm sure there must be loads of young Thai ladies that would happily take te OP into their marital bed, and allow him the possibility of staying here on a married visa.

Yes, but who in their right mind would take them up on their offer? Many IOs nowadays seem hell-bent to make the process for extensions based on marriage as denigrating an experience as possible.

13 minutes ago, KevinFR said:

Currently I do not have much stamp. I made an exemption + 1 extra month. I wanted renewed by doing a visa run but they refused

Where did that happen? At the Aranyaprathet/Poipet border crossing?

As for your future plans, assuming that you fly in from France, carry the usual (cash, proof of flight out within 30 days) plus proof of employment in France which could be helpful if you get questioned.

With large databases such as Thailand's immigration database, it doesn't only matter if an overstay is logged, but also how. Will it be easy for immigration officers to run a query like "show me all the overstays of this and that person", or can they only get a list of all the entries and have to sift through to find them? Reports seem to indicate that the latter might be the case.

Personally, I don't think they ever delete a record, so once something has been logged there it will stay there forever. But if and when they migrate their database, they might have a cut off date for ancient data that's no longer relevant.

4 hours ago, Tanoshi said:

The Thai Elite Visa is the only option for staying long term, under 50, unless married to a Thai, then there is no age restriction.

Actually having a child with a Thai national would be sufficient, you don't need to marry unless that's your thing. ????

3 hours ago, Lovethailandelite said:

Agreed and we could see it coming. The system will be changed from 23rd March. You will fill in your details as of now BUT you will need a personal E mail address. After filing your details, you will then receive a PIN code to that personal mail address. You will need this PIN code before you can actually get too the part of the system that allows you to make booking appointments. You go back in to the system and make the booking. You will then need to print or screenshot the details which will contain your personal details. That will make the booking unique to you. Without this, you will not be able to even enter there.

I don't get it, what's wrong with my embassy's much simpler system? You make an appointment and enter your personal details. If anyone else shows up, presenting their passport but an appointment under my name, they are being sent away. Easy, no need for two steps!

Assuming that it's developed by the same incompetent company that screwed it up the first time around, what are the chances that those PIN code emails will reliably reach their recipients?

3 hours ago, Lovethailandelite said:

Then unfortunately, you are not suitable for the scheme. You are what is termed as 'Undesirable' in the eyes of immigration.

I'll wait for the first actual report of someone denied for having had a few short overstays in the past. I have no reason to take your word for what you wrote, especially considering how much nonsense you've been posting about things like the great new integrated database, etc.

They need to search 6,000 premises to arrest just 7,000 something offenders. They are clearly doing it wrong.

So we have a bunch of sycophants that is being hailed as brave for their sycophantic act by a former member of the same club. Let's just say he didn't quite convince me.

6 hours ago, Lovethailandelite said:

There is an issue there with people booking all the slots and then attempting to sell those slots on. The system is being changed over the next couple of weeks so as this cannot happen again in the future.
You will need to use somewhere else until it gets sorted out.

Quite amazing that they failed to foresee that potential problem. When I make an appointment with my home country's embassy (to apply for a new passport), the appointment is tied to my personal details and I couldn't sell my slot even if I wanted to. Hardly rocket science.

5 hours ago, chowny77 said:

OK. So I am back from Vietnam. All went well at the consulate as I had every document ready plus the money in US dollars.

Thanks for your report. It would be great if you could let us know which documents you gave them. The last time I went there, they were mostly interested in flight tickets (in and out), but didn't ask me for a bank statement although that was already listed as a requirement. I had one ready in any case. I'm mostly interested in knowing if they want to see hotel bookings, or anything else on top.

1 hour ago, elviajero said:

The family applied on the last day (their choice), which meant any unforeseen event stopping them completing the extension that day would put them on overstay. They would have known that.

 

But you go ahead and - as usual - blame immigration and their anti-foreigner staff! 

I think you do have to consider what caused the problem. If they hadn't had their documents in order or if there had been an issue outside of immigration, okay. But in that case? Clearly immigration's fault! If an office isn't closed for a holiday, showing up at 7am and expecting to get seen to the same day is perfectly reasonable. Yet you defend these clowns time and again.

4 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

From the FAQ regarding anybody ALREADY on overstay and regarding anybody on PAST overstay.

https://www.thailandelite-direct.com/faqs
 

No, an individual is not eligible to acquire a Thailand Elite Residence Program privilege entry visa in this case. The individual is required to leave the country if they are overstaying on their current entry.

Any applicant who has more than one overstaying record will not be eligible to apply for the Thailand Elite Residence Program. Regardless of whether an approval letter has been issued, any member with a record of overstaying more than once will be rejected at the immigration office when they arrive to have their privilege entry visa affixed.

Sounds excessive if their check goes back "forever", not just three years as mentioned elsewhere. Up to a few years ago, it was not that uncommon that people overstayed a few days every now and again (more than once). Often even following advice given by immigration officers who said something along the lines of two days overstay being cheaper than an extension.

I just topped up my Rabbit card at BTS Ekkamai and was NOT asked for identification. I did choose the place and time carefully (no queue at all) and did take my passport along just in case.

Maybe enforcement is spotty as so often, or maybe it's because my Rabbit card is (also) a Bangkok Bank visa debit card. As the bank obviously knows all about me and registered me for Rabbit Rewards, there really shouldn't be a need for more. But yes, I read what other members found in the FAQs, so who knows!

What's the most efficient way to check with Bangkok Bank if a particular ACH transaction was coded in the correct format? Call or email their New York office? Or check with the HQ in Bangkok instead?

If anyone has up to date contact details of the right person to ask and is willing to share them, that would be great.

I bet the book will be distributed in army barracks all across the country to boost the number of "readers" (owners).