RabCNesbitt

On 6/17/2022 at 9:56 AM, KhunBENQ said:

 

A mate comes from Germany on June 25. Of course with Thai pass/insurance.

Have just sent him the good news (not for him)

I too fly in on June 25th....it's been booked for months. Why can't they just drop the Thai Pass now? Why does it have to wait until July 1st? What difference does it make? Bonkers.

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

They will only accept 20k baht or the equivalent of it in cash. The will not accept anything else.

On the Government website it says about 'evidence of funds of at least 20k Baht' and I have a Thai bank account with more than 400k in it.... so to have a print out of this is not sufficient evidence?

Hard to believe that in this day and age of the use of cards and apps instead of cash I actually need to have a wad of cash equivalent to 20k Baht on me when I arrive at the immigration desk.

Just a quick question, I noticed that to turn up 'visa exempt' I need to show proof of at least 20k Baht. Does that mean I actually have to have cash on me, or can I just show my Bualuang i-banking app balance in my Thai Bkk Bank account? A friend of mine was actually locked in a small cell and deported the next day because he didn't have 20k Baht on him, and the ATM machine is the other side of the immigration desks so he couldn't withdraw cash from his Portuguese account!

Cheers.

18 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Just to confirm ....you have Thai bank account in your name.

 

Yes I do, however, I don't yet have the 10k required. The point that I am making is that the online non-O application required that I provide evidence of £10k before it would allow me to continue the application. Weird.

Hence, as you suggested, I will arrive visa exempt, obtain my non-O, load up the Thai bank account (by July) and get the marriage extension. It seems that the online application demands info that is actually not required.

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Were you applying for a non-o visa for marriage or retirement.

For retirement the 10k pounds is correct and the insurance is only 400k/40 insurance for 90 days.

For marriage no amount is defined on the London embassy website but they will accept the equivalent of 20k baht will be accepted and no insurance it required other than the $10,000 covid insurance (30 days).

I was applying for the Non-O visa for marriage, but as mentioned the application required evidence of £10k and insurance.

6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is not really a requirement for a non-b visa for working or a non-o visa for your family members.

The covid 19 insurance has been lowered to $10,000 now and you will really only need 30 days or maybe for 90 days since that is the length of stay your visas allow.

There is certainly no need for $100,000 of insurance for the types of visas you are applying for. That is only needed for a visa based upon retirement.

I noticed the same problem as the OP when trying to apply for non-O from outside of Thailand using the online system. When you arrive at the page for 'supporting documents' one of the requirements is for the 1-year insurance. You can't continue with the application without the required documents (including evidence of £10k in a bank account) and several other documents. It appears that even though UbonJoe is correct, the online application system still requires this evidence. IDK how to get around it outside of Thailand without purchasing the insurance.

I'm going to use the advice previously given to me by UbonJoe and others (many thanks to those) and that is I will arrive visa exempt (with just the minimum $10k insurance cover for 30 days), then obtain my Non-O while in Thailand when I will not require to show evidence of the 1-year cover.

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

I can confirm with 100% certainty that this is possible. Further, the Non O-A visa is not so attractive nowadays (apart from a somewhat complicated application process) because of insurance requirements that are not always satisfied by excellent international policies.

 

The main challenge with the Non O application in Thailand is opening a bank account, and transferring in the 800,000 baht (retirement) or 400,000 baht (marriage) from abroad that is a requirement. The application must be done with at least 15 days left on the permission to stay from your tourist (including visa exempt) entry. Apart from that, it is usually very easy. If the extra bank deposit amount (retirement) is easy for you, that makes future extensions even easier.

Thanks  for the rapid reply ????

I have a very good BUPA insurance valid until August, but as you say, who knows if that will be accepted when applying for the Non-O?

Also, I have a Thai bank account which I have had for many years having worked there since 2005, so getting the money there is no problem.

So, it looks like yourself and DrJack54 are giving me sound advice - thanks for all of your help.

On 4/4/2022 at 11:35 AM, BritTim said:

If you enter with a tourist visa or visa exempt, you can apply for a Non O visa at Immigration in Thailand. This will give you a fresh 90-day permission to stay as of the date your visa application is accepted.

 

Once you are on a Non Immigrant permission to stay (the Non O visa being the most common mechanism for getting one) you can then apply for a one-year extension of your permission to stay to live with your Thai wife. This has some requirements that need to be met, such as some financial proof and documentation showing your marriage is genuine.

Hi BritTim,

I am filling in the Non-O A online application at the moment, however, they are asking for many docs including financial evidence (of minimum £10,000 in my account), marriage certificate (which I have), a letter of invitation from my wife, hotel booking info and proof that we are still together(?) I think it is because I am applying to the UK Thai site (because I am a UK citizen) but I reside in Egypt until my current contract ends in June and will fly to Thailand directly from here. I haven't submitted the application yet - it is the final page of the online application that won't allow me to click the 'done' tab until I provide all of those docs.

You have suggested that it is possible to enter Thailand on a 'Visa exempt' for 30 days and while there, I can get my Non-O in Thailand. However, I have read that it is not possible to get the Non-O while in Thailand (it must be obtained from outside of Thailand). Could you verify that I can get the Non-O once I'm there? It would save me a lot of hassle here, just arriving Visa exempt. Thanks in advance.

18 hours ago, Nickelbeer said:

Good move, now that the Thai economy is officially dead.

...But the Baht somehow continues to rise!! ????

5 hours ago, sandyf said:

The Egyptian Embassy are wrong to ask for a return ticket from all applicants. It would appear that they focus on all applicants returning to Egypt.

This is in contrast to the UK embassy that provides guidance for those looking to stay in Thailand long term.

It would certainly be in your interest to get the Non O before entering Thailand.

I am assuming from your name that you are a UK national so an option that may be worth looking at is to apply to London for the visa. The process is online and the visa is issued by email so there is no longer the need to submit passport. I think they ask for proof of residence in the UK but I seem to remember that for people with a UK passport that could be skipped over. Good luck.

Thanks Sandyf,

Where would I apply for the onlie visa? I am a UK national - do you know the website?

Cheers.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to give advice.

I did not know that I could arrive Visa exempt and obtain the Non-O in Thailand - everything I read in the forums suggested that I needed to obtain the Non-O here in Egypt before entering Thailand. I do have a marriage certificate and I do have the Egyptian residence card...... so would it be easier to get the Non-O here before arrival, giving me 90 days to sort out my marriage visa in Thailand, or just arrive Visa exept, get a Non-O in Thailand and then convert it to Marriage Visa there? I do have 400k in my own Thai account from when I was there previously.

Thanks for any further advice.

Hi All,

I was a teacher in Thailand between 2005 and 2021 residing in Thailand the whole time. Last year I left to persue a job in Egypt where I am currently. Now I wish to return having completed my contract and return to my wife in Thailand. My previous school in Thailand dealt with all of the paperwork for all of the years I lived there - so I actually don't have a great deal of experience in obtaining my visa in order to go back there. Having read through what I require in order to obtain a Marriage Visa, it appers that I must apply for a Non-O here in Egypt, and then convert it to a Marriage visa sometime after arriving in Thailand.

My dilemma is: having read the info required by the Thai Embassy in the application for the Non-O, I must have a RETURN flight with a return date, however, I left Thailand last year with a flight paid for by my current employer which was a return flight from Bangkok to Cairo - so now I only have a single flight ticket to return to Bkk and not a return ticket to leave the Kingdom of Thailand. Any advice on what I should do here is appreciated.

Inter-provincial travel..... as usual it's soooo confusing! There is supposedly a form to be filled in available from the Thai Center For Disease Control website. You go there - nothing. My wife tried the Thai language site (which had LOADS more info) - nothing. Check out the video, it's nothing short of useless:

https://youtu.be/lD6kgBoLYvI

It's all about the money.... someone, somewhere didn't get paid.

I wonder how many people riding motorcycles without a helmet, 3-up on a motorcycle, riding the wrong way down a carriageway or exceeding the speed limit the BIB passed on their way to bust the jam party?

Many deaths on the roads by blatant ignorance and failure to properly police and enforce laws.... but the guys having a jam are a very, very soft target.....

On 9/11/2020 at 3:25 PM, PatOngo said:

...........and they seem to be getting away with it. Maybe their snouts are so firmly ensconced in the trough that they really don't even notice!

Note the Thai Baht continuing on its rise against the pound and the dollar...... What economic problem?

On 12/23/2019 at 10:05 PM, Ron jeremy said:

I find it rather funny, borderline hysterical that people still say that prices here have not risen in 15 years.

I too find it hysterical that people still don't see that - unless all they do is eat at the cheapest food stalls / buy food from market stalls that have remained cheap simply because the poorer people would starve if they put up their prices!

Just recently I was checking out purchasing a house in Chiang Mai - 4 years ago the house I looked at was 2.2 Million Baht.... now they want 6.5 Million for THE SAME HOUSE!!! Who says that prices haven't gone up? Open your eyes... look at land prices and condo prices too....

Last year I had a holiday in the UK, it used to be very expensive to go there - it was WAY cheaper than the cost of living here - supermarket goods, car rentals, AirBnB, pub drinks, second-hand cars, new cars - all cheaper than Thailand. The only thing that was more expensive was eating out in restaurants. Inflation is actually out of control here because it is unregulated and being fuelled by money from China.

Approx. 2 years ago, the Chiang Mai authorities started to enforce the TM30. I was informed by my employer that this was to be the case, however, they informed me TOO LATE for me to do anything about it - so I was fined 1600B.

You can imagine that I have followed their requirements ever since. Funny how now it is being highlighted because it is affecting all foreigners residing here in the LOS. Instead of the rather frail tattooed gentleman in the vest, I would have been dressed in my shirt and tie as is required for my profession....

19 hours ago, wgdanson said:

He said he would be transferring OUT of Thailand. So Transferwise no good, Dee Money OK.

What is Dee Money? As mentioned, Transferwise is only useful for transfer of funds in to Thailand, so what is the best to use to transfer from Thailand? I haven't found one yet and I have to send money every month to the UK.... losing every time because not only do BKK Bank charge their fees, they also give a poorer exchange rate than the XE one, so you lose even more on the transfer.

Never, ever again will I ride in a minivan with those devil-may-care psycopathic maniacs! They are all as bad as each other. ระวัง does not exist in their speed-focused mentality, they have a total lack of responsibility for passengers and a total disregard for safety of other road-users.

Here's a Thai viewpoint with some very strong reasons for the disaster we are experiencing now:

That is a well-written and interesting article. Most likely the ones who said 'I gave up after 30 seconds' or 'wasted 6 minutes' are those who are the result of the lack of a decent education system..... Perhaps if the article was in the form of a graphic novel or a series of pictures that they can scroll through they might find it more palatable.

19 hours ago, RuamRudy said:

I agree with your sentiment, but I don't think your explanation is correct - the UK is a union of 3 countries and 6 counties, not a single country in itself. 

Only 2 of the countries backed Brexit - the others, in this so called union of equals, comprehensively rejected it but it is being foisted upon them nonetheless. So not only have you got a riven English opinion, the union itself is being torn asunder.