ovenman

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

Be sure to keep the old passport.  You may discover you need it when you go to do things like close out bank accounts, or perhaps get a deposit back from Truevisions or whatever.  Some transaction that you did with the old passport and that's the number the business has on file for you.

There's that and sometimes you need old visa numbers/info when applying for new visas of certain countries (e.g. India).

6 minutes ago, CMBob said:

Not surprised they wanted to move over your original Non-O visa from years back as it's actually that visa which keeps being extended.  The other stuff (other than, perhaps, your original entry stamp involving the Non-O) makes sense too as those entries are needed for future reports and changes.

I am guessing they need to retain the original entry stamp as it establishes the running date of when the annual one-year extensions will expire.

19 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Is there a charge for this service at Imm Prom?

No, transfer of stamps from old passport to new is free.

I returned to Promenada this morning to attempt getting the stamps transferred from my old passport to the new one. Arrived just before 08:30 and received number four for my queue. I was finished by 10:20 so it appears to take roughly a half-hour per passport to transfer stamps.

For the curious, what they wound up replicating in my new passport was my original non-O visa from several years back, the original entry stamp from that visa, my current retirement extension, my current entry stamp and finally, my current multiple re-entry permit. Three pages of my new passport GONE. 

Given the amount of stuff needing to be sorted out, I can see why they don't want to process this work at the airport when one is exiting the country!

Just now, scorecard said:

Some similarity, but I have permanent residence which is not listed, like the detail your mentioning, in the passport. 

Seems like "show up at the airport" would work fine for you, as it also would for somebody at the other end of the immigration spectrum (e.g. a visa-exempt entry).

On 3/24/2017 at 2:42 PM, scottiejohn said:

This is my point. 

 

I do not believe that 'Scorecard' can just turn up at the point of exit with his old passport and a brand new passport on which immigration have not carried out their usual processes.

My experience today with the transfer of stamps from old passport to new:

In addition to my entry stamp, the potentially relevant stuff in my old passport is my original non-O visa from several years back, several retirement extensions off that visa including the current one along with my valid multiple re-entry permit.

I roll up to the correct office at Promenada this afternoon with both passports in hand only to be told "Queue full, come back tomorrow". I mention that I am leaving Thailand next week, can I simply do this process at the airport upon exit? The trainee has no idea so she goes inside the office to find out. She returns and tells me I can do that at the airport, just make sure I take both passports with me. She then adds "but it would be better if you come to Promenada and do this".

I follow up on that last statement by asking why, if I can accomplish what needs to be done at the airport upon exit, would I want to return to Promenada and potentially sit all day waiting for my queue number to come up just to do the same thing? I had to explain this question several times but once grasped she tells me, "At airport cannot". Confused now that her earlier information has been contradicted, I try to get further clarification.

It seems that the bottom line is while you would be able to exit Thailand at the airport using both passports, airport immigration will not transfer all of your relevant extension information and such to the new passport. In essence you would be kicking the proverbial can down the road as you would eventually need to deal with the transfer process (at Promenada). I assume that if they permit you to exit with both passports they would also allow you to reenter Thailand in that manner but I didn't even try to ask that.

I don't know whether my information is any more accurate than what scorecard was told but I figured I would simply report what I was told...

My data points are power out around San Sai village, out near the junction of 1001 and 121 and out off of Nimman. Seems like this one is pretty widespread.

[Edit]  Power just came back.

Weather radar indicates a strong-looking storm in Lampang now.

1 hour ago, ajarngreg said:

 It's easy to understand why they're doing this. Too many foreigners and I'm now talking about quite a huge number, have abused the tourist visas to work here illegally, mostly at schools. It's very difficult for an Immigration officer to differentiate between the good and the bad guys.

It's apparently the ideal and obvious solution to this problem because apparently it would just be too difficult to raid said schools, unannounced. 

On 2/18/2017 at 9:28 PM, cerox said:

That's still very cheap unfortunately.

I don't think it is cheap for a ride on a bench seat in the back of some clapped-out old pickup truck. Was talking to a Thai friend today about this fare increase and his thought was 15 baht seemed reasonable for a short ride within town.

My niece graduates from CMU on Monday the 23rd. Not sure about any dates on either side of that.

On the "Tourist Visa" page of the above linked website, one finds the following:

1) Visa application of NON-MALAYSIAN foreigner who is not resident of Malaysia will be rejected

Worth asking whether that policy has changed but likely the above will be their answer.

"But my internet fraudster is different..."

I just put my Thai niece through four years at CMU in a business program. Tuition was ~25,000 baht per term. She has continued onto a similar graduate program at CMU and that tuition is ~50,000 baht per term.

1 hour ago, IMA_FARANG said:

That is close enough to the Vietnamese consulate for me to stop off there at the consulate and see what info, if any, they have

 

I don't use those vjsa letter  on arrival places. I prefer to get my Vietnamese visa diect from the consulate if that is still posible.

Please report back as to what they say at the embassy.

Understood about wanting to get a visa directly from the embassy; that's just not a practical option living here in Chiang Mai. That said, I have about a dozen visa-on-arrivals for Vietnam and never had a problem obtaining one.

Not all websites are up to date but here is one that states the change pretty clearly: http://www.vietnamconsulate-sf.org/en/consular-services/visas/

If you look at some of the visa agency sites, you'll find that some already reflect the change and some are lagging.

3 minutes ago, BKKdreaming said:

OUUCH , makes it not as interesting to go for a weekend trip and check it out , 

 

I  hope they put it back to the old way , and get rid of the  pre-approval letter which really is just an added money grab and not doing th country any good

This new policy doesn't make much sense given that Vietnam's stated goal when the tentative go-ahead for a one-year visa was given in 2015 was to boost tourism. Hard to see how raising the visa fee four-fold will accomplish that. Realistically, most US tourists to Vietnam are coming from the US and unlikely to be making multiple entries into VN within a year's time. IMO - The smart play would be for Vietnam to allow a fifteen-day visa exempt entry for US citizens as they have done for a number of other countries and have the one-year, multi-entry visa available for those who wish to stay in VN longer.

Just a heads-up for any US citizens planning to visit Vietnam. The tourist visa policy for US citizens appears to have been changed on 26 August 2016. The only tourist visa that is apparently now available for US citizens is a one-year, multiple-entry visa that allows for a ninety-day stay with each entry. If you go the visa-on-arrival route, the stamping fee at the airport is $135, plus whatever your agency is charging for the pre-approval letter (going rate at most agencies is $30 from what I can see). I was previously paying $45 in visa fees for a visit to Vietnam: $20 for my pre-approval letter, $25 at the airport as a stamping fee. Under the new system, one needs to make four visits to Vietnam per year to come out ahead of the old method.

1 hour ago, Pond Life said:

I must have been dreaming, I thought there was others before.

There was. AirAsia flew CNX-SIN previously but it was dropped when they started their Macau flight.

The leading edge appears to have arrived...

The dateline on this story could just as easily be 1998 as such a visa been mooted for about that long. And the same story will likely run in 2036 with nothing having happened in the interim.

Wasn't the price of shaving foam something that Bernard Trink used to obsess over back in the day?

Do more? What's being done now??

And once again, just a tease (north of the city along the outer ring road).

I thought the government took care of the loan sharks last year some time. What happened?

Nothing apparently.