Bournville

This guy is the biggest idiot. A disgusting example of xenophobia that is spreading rapidly throughout Thailand. He's given his fellow countryman a license to harass and maybe worse! 

One more good reason to STAY AWAY from Thailand... Songkran is such a stupid silly time.. It's great for half a day.. But Chiang Mai goes on and on.... ! 

The drinking driving there too! Yikes. Idiots 

53 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

When your OA Visa has been issued 24 January 2019, its validity date will be till 23 January 2020 (look for the date on your OA Visa sticker).

When leaving and re-entering Thailand before the expiry of the Visa validity date (23 January 2020) you will be stamped in for the full year that your OA Visa entitles you to.

I deduct that you last re-entered Thailand on 15 August 2019, as your permission to stay date is 14 August 2020, as stamped in your passport.

You are now outside Thailand.  And when you re-enter before 23 January 2020, you will be stamped in once again for a full year.  E.g. a re-entry on 19 January 2020, will provide you with a permission to stay till 18 January 2021.

However, if you re-enter after 23 January 2020 - as you intend to do - you will need a RE-ENTRY PERMIT to keep that 14 August 2020 permission to stay 'alive'. 

So if you did not buy such a re-entry permit before having left Thailand, a re-entry after 23 January 2020, will void your 14 August 2020 permission to stay.  You will of course not be refused to enter Thailand then, but it will then be on a Visa Exempt which will allow you 30 days of stay.  And when you want to be on long-stay in Thailand you would have to go through the process of applying for a new Non Imm O Visa.  However, an OA Visa as your presently have, can only be issued in your home-country, so once in Thailand you would have to apply for a Non Imm O Visa, which does not have the benefits your present OA Visa has. 

Conclusion:

- When you did buy a RE-ENTRY PERMIT before having left Thailand, there is nothing to worry about and you will be stamped in for the remainder of your permission to stay (14 August 2020);

- If you did not buy such a re-entry permit, there are many options (re-entering before 23 January 2020 (and exiting again with a re-entry permit) / applying for a Non Imm O or OA Visa in your home-country / re-entering Thailand Visa Exempt and starting the process that will allow you a long-stay again / ...).

Will take too long to expand on all of these options, so in case you left without a re-entry permit let us know the following info so that TVF members can correctly inform you of the options you have:

- Your nationality and validity date of your passport

- Are you married to a thai national?

- Are you planning to stay long-term in Thailand, or only doing occasional long trips?

Please note that there are always solutions, so: Happy XMas-days!

 

Uppps. Thanks so much for your detailed reply. I did NOT get a re entry permit. I am a usa passport holder, which expires March 2027.. I am over 60 years old.. Retired No family in Thailand. 

That's a BIG question. How long will I stay in Thailand. It's good to have choices... I've always been in Thailand on an OA visa.. But only spend 8 months or so each year there... I leave to travel.. and then go back. 

I really appreciate the information provided. Cheers. 

34 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Do you have a Re-Entry Permit? 

 

Re entry? I left Thailand a few weeks ago... My oa visa is multiple entry. 

I am on my 3rd (relevant?) OA visa. Originally issued January 24 2019. 

I left Thailand on several trips this year and I have a stamp with a "permitted stay " until August 14 2020. 

I am currently outside Thailand and plan to return in March 2020. 

Am I OK to return on my current visa or do I need another OA visa? Thanks. 

Nothing confusing here. Especially if you are of working age. Immigration would be suspicious... That's a lot of stays on a tourist visa. Are you simply a tourist?

You must really like temple's 

On 9/18/2019 at 9:58 AM, ThaiWai said:

My soi has no name.  Just a house number, moo number and ampur name.  I accept that if it makes sense to the people that deliver mail etc to me. I got a call from DHL 5 days ago and was told they had a package for me and could I send my location to the number they were calling from.  I complied. 5 hours later...no package. I then see an email from them requesting I share my location via google maps. I comply...next day no package.  4 days later I see they have enter a shipping status at the merchant website that says "Customer requested rescheduling".  Seeing this was not going to get resolved, I search for the DHL office near me and take a drive there, the shop is marked with company logos etc.  They tell me I am at the wrong location and I should drive to a nearby landmark and look for their associates office at a shop that has no markings.  I go to the landmark and search all over asking shop owners in the area if they know where DHL is and no one does. I call the number they gave me at the first office.  DHL employee answers and I ask where she is and tell her I believe I am somewhere near her.  She says she will step onto the sidewalk so I can see her.  It turns out I am literally parked in front of the office which has zero markings of any kind.  I relay this story to her and she says "We couldn't find your house".  I point to the soi opposite her office and tell her "That's my soi right in front of your office.  You could have walked two minutes to my house.  I was not angry or even surprised. This type of thing happens every day all day at every business. Their systems don't work, the employees don't care, the corporation doesn't care, the governments local and national don't care, there's no logic or motivation behind anything everything is just a big bowl of random actions followed by repeated failures that are never learned from mixed in with heaping helpings of corruption ,xenophobia, racism and greed that trickle from the top down.  I have learned to accept that I live in a country where no one surpasses the brain function of a ten year old and just roll with it.

5555 .  555555 funny I should trip across this old post... i also live on a similar road/address.. just a number and moo2, tambon, city. Thats it. 

At least 80% of my lazada et al, deliveries require a call from the shipping company!! If they see a franang name on the box, then why would they assume i speak Thai? ..and yet they jump right in to talking to me in Thai!! I speak a little..but certainly not enough to direct them to my house or to understand hat the hell they are on about. 

MOST importantly, this driver, ALL he does for 6 frigging days a week is deliver packages!! He is the professional right? He should know how to read a map or stop and ask for help. So WHY the heck do they even bother asking me for help? They should know this area like the back of their hand. Right?

So what's the problem with these drivers? Too lazy? To stupid to read a map? To embarrassed to ask another Thai close by for help locating my house? 

It TRULY baffles me how a driver working 12 hour days 6 hours a day, has all that experience in the location and deliveries etc etc and still has the gall to call me and ask for help delivering a package!!!

On 11/18/2019 at 11:11 AM, gunderhill said:

I Like the sound of your Wife.

I agree. i saw her first!!

On 11/19/2019 at 11:57 AM, Jingthing said:

I found out something interesting about the Colombia visa situation. As mentioned before there MAY be a major change coming that would include a major rise in financial requirements including retirement. Well, even if that happened it might not be so bad for people already in the system IF they grandfather the old levels. So I was curious about RESIDENCY TIME REQUIREMENTS for those on Colombian long term visas. Now in Thailand for one year retirement extensions, you aren't required to live in Thailand at all to keep that valid. I found out that in Colombia you don't need to live there much either BUT if you leave and don't return for over six months, the visa status becomes invalid. So that might a useful thing especially for people now in the USA and Canada in that you can pop into Colombia and get a THREE YEAR retirement visa and all you need to do to keep it valid is to show up in Colombia before every six month period ends. So that could be a foot in the door on the current levels and then see if they're grandfathered. Or other personally tailored tactics as needed. Rather more difficult and expensive for those now living in Thailand though. I guess one way to use that rule from Thailand would be to pop in, get the visa, then go back to Thailand and try to end all your business in Thailand within six months (easy for some, hard for others). But then there is the risk that you would need to move again within three years if no grandfathering.

My Mexican Residency visa will never expire and I have actually spent more time here in Thailand than in México. 

I'll be returning to México in a few more weeks.. Immigration allows me to enter Mexico, with my Residente Permanente Card, via the "Mexicans Only" line at the airport. Once, immigration told me "that I am nearly Mexican".. Because I had that card. I always feel welcome there. 

Regarding Colombia.. I read a few years ago that all money going into that country was taxable. Never did understand rule fully. 

On 11/14/2019 at 2:59 PM, dcnx said:

I stopped recommending Thailand a few years ago. There are so many better places to go for a holiday. Between the locals and the hordes of Chinese, I’m not sure who ruined things more but it’s incredibly difficult to actually relax here now unless you go somewhere during the off season or luck out. I can’t even grab a coffee at a cafe anymore without contemplating snapping the neck of at least one Chinese tourist who is either yelling across the room, trying to cut in line, or allowing their kids to use every chair as a their own personal jungle gym.

 

I didn’t think I’d ever despise a group of people as much as I’ve come to despise Chinese tourists. They are a plague upon the earth.

So. Your not a fan of Chinese people. OK. 555 

5 hours ago, snowballthecat said:

How to check fares with China Southern?

which searching engine?

Thanks!

Direct on their website https://global.csair.com/US/GB/Home

11 minutes ago, canopy said:

Are you kidding? This has been all over the news this year. Do some reading. In my province as an example people that have lived there peacefully and quietly forever are now receiving warnings, fines, and refusal of visa services from the immigration office simply because they returned to their homes not knowing they now need the house owner to file a tm30 within a 24-hours time limit. There are more and more Thai property owners that refuse to rent to foreigners because they don't want to have this hassle and don't want to be vulnerable to the potential fines involved. This is one of the most draconian laws ever. Every time you step away from your house you need to coordinate with the owner to fill out paperwork. Yes, this is really happening.

 

So many expats here are either in denial or LA LA land 555. Yes... The noose is getting tighter. Two weeks ago I got my first IO visit... I live alone.. Rented house.. 4 IO officers! No tm30 in file. Owner never registered me! 4 years in Thailand I've never felt so unwelcome... By locals... By IO.. just a generally feeling if.. Go away farang. Ouch. Ok.

This is the fundamental issue I have with Thailand's fine immigration people 555.  Each office. each officer.. makes up their own rules however they feel that day. 

The OP describes a situation that was never stated in the Sept 28 ? police directive regarding the insurance for OA visas. I thought.. or was it stated..that it ONLY applies to the original application. 

Its difficult to plan for long term residency with such nonsense. There are many here who tell me "oh come on it only takes a few hours year to extend". Utter codswallop. How on earth can anyone say this with such a moving target?

On 11/1/2019 at 10:54 PM, Jingthing said:

You can laugh!

I can cry!

COLOMBIA is in the process of potential major visa changes that for me would ELIMINATE Colombia as a possibility for me. 

 

I guess I can rationalize my disappointment by saying I would have hated living in a bland food country anyway!

 

To wit --

 

Increase in financial requirements (pension) for retirement status. 

It's over my level. So if passed -- game over for me.

 

(Will the old levels be grandfathered? Maybe. That will be something for people to watch.)

 

Tightening (more like typical Latin American normalization) of other things, police background checks, medical screening of some kind, etc.

 

So super easy almost too good to be true -- well, it was. 

 

Will see the specifics of the law if passed, but likely means no Colombia for me. I have obviously been most interested in Colombia. 

 

So that does leave some choices in Latin America that I am less excited about that I can still financially qualify for in order of highest to lowest interest --

 

Mexico

Ecuador

Panama

Peru

 

I still remain unclear on the Mexican retirement visa specific process but I think it can be handled by showing money in the bank in a similar way to Thailand but with an eventual path towards permanent residence (unlike Thailand). 

 

Ecuador with previous mentioned pros and cons does offer the buy in to their national health system but I don't think it's as good as in Colombia (and more serious financial issues as well). 

Apply for a Temporary Resident visa at a MX consul in any country you reside in. Wait 4 years.. You automatically get your permanent resident status, which is what I already have. The financial requirements I haven't kept up with.. 1400 USD per month maybe? 

On 10/16/2019 at 6:05 PM, Odysseus123 said:

Hi Jinghthing,

 

I was being light heartedf but in my travels thru' South America my impression was that the middle-class Spanish speaking inhabitants would eat -in terms of culture and education-the average "Farang" living in Thailand for breakfast.

Let's face it-most of them are blue collar industrialised serfs,obsessed with purchaseable sex and cheap food and housing.

 

Chile,for example,has an extremely robust culture which would eviscerate the average American fom Alabama,the Brit from Manchester or the Aussie from Blacktown-leaving them no alternative but to stick with SE Asia,which is sick of them anyway.

I am glad to see that there is another expat here in Thailand who feels the same way. For a really BIG sample of those type of expats your speaking of...earlier this year i was in KUTA, Bali. Oh my god... the Ozzie Bogans there reminded me why my 10 pound Pom days were over after just 2 years in Sydney and I setup home in California in 1974. Lucky me.

I lived in Mexico before Thailand and yes, generally speaking Mexicans have culture and class and have opinions about the world around them. Not just Mexico..but the world! Try having that sort of conversation with an average Thai!!

However just because Thai people are generally not Wordly doesn't mean they have to be treated with disrespect and put up with terrible farang behaviour. These low class farang here are a big factor with Thailand Immigration and local Thai´s being very, very wary of ALL expats. Yes. Thailand is probably sick of expats now.