Johnny Rotten

Is the application for the Certificate of residence at CW the same queue as for the TM30s?

Last week I was handed #403. and I thought they had made a mistake, After waiting till late afternoon, I left, fearing the traffic jams around there from 4.30pm.

Could someone please confirm if it is the same queue.

Bangkok Christian had a special on last year - cost me around Bt47 K in December 2018 with special lens for astigmitism. I think it will be around Bt60 K now. I have to go back for 2nd op. shortly. Best to look around the hospitals for any specials and/or get quotes.

Never try and walk after op., unless you are used to walking around with one eye closed. I walked down Silom Road shortly after op. and landed flat on my face on the uneven sidewalk, and am still sitting here with a messed-up shoulder.

1 minute ago, WorriedNoodle said:

There must be many expats, myself included, actively avoiding hotels these days as the TM30 followup is too inconvenient. A pity for the hotel industry?

You hit the nail on the head! I now avoid hotels, as I'm sure most of us will, until they are clear on this matter. The hotel industry also needs to get clarity on this issue from Immigration.

I can confirm for myself I will have to pay a Bt800 fine for my landlord not having submitted a TM30 for me when I returned from overseas this year (copies of passport were provided to the body corporate/him), but not for several recent visits I made to hotels in Pattaya and Hua Hin. I got an agent to enquire for me at CW Immigration this week. Not sure if these same rules apply away from CW.

A conference was held on 25 July, with many staff of international schools, body corporates, etc invited, for CW Immigration staff to advise re TM30 procedures for CW.

From what I can glean from an individual (from a BKK international school) who attended, a TM30 does now not apply when a foreigner just goes out of BKK to hotels, guesthouses in another province (this may be because the hotels may be losing business and up in arms). It does apply for individuals coming back into Thailand, such as for international trips, which for me is confusing, as surely a TM6 entry form would suffice (and Immigration must surely have access to these copies?)

Question: What about all the foreigners in BKK that have been fleeced by Immigration these last few months, paying BT800 and up because they took trips out of BKK?

I omitted to send a self-addressed envelope when I sent in a copy of my lease agreement with the TM30 form. Hopefully Immigration will record this and just issue me with receipt when I go to Immigration - any one else forgot to send in an envelope?

I have one or two questions relating to TM30 registration:

I have downloaded the Section 38 App - now what documents do I need to submit when registering, bearing in mind that the condo lease is in my wife's name?

Presumably copies of relevant passport pages, copy of wife's lease (all pages?), (ID of condo owner?), wife's ID? Anything I missed?

We don't have a copy of owner's blue book.

As I go away once a month to hotels outside BKK, I would like to send in a TM30 by post upon my return to BKK (that is, if the hotel's staff requested a copy of my passport). Normally I try get my wife to do all the registration procedures.

Question: Do I need the owner's blue book reference no. to write on the TM30 - unfortunately we only have the lease contract, copy of his ID and his name. He has refused to give us the copy of the apartment's blue book.

Also applies to renewals: "...those wishing to renew their visa..."

Only for over 50's. See article in The Nation today: https://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30369323

Looking more and more likely that I will have to make 3 - 4 trips to CW Immigration in the next few months, as follows: Request letter addressed to Police HQ for police clearance (requirement now on visa extensions for South Africans and other countries Thailand considers dicey - apparently anyone from Africa), address certification for MV license, TM30 check, application for one year extension, return after 1 month to have visa extension stamped in my passport and re entry permit. What a mission!  Lucky that I manage to complete my 90 day reports online.

If it is true that one must report to Immigration after having stayed in a hotel away from your place of residence, I would expect more foreigners and their families to stop staying in hotels, and rather book apartments etc. I find it is more the 4 -5 star hotels that request passport details from me, even though booking is in my wife's name. Imagine if one goes away twice p.m. out of Bangkok - one has to report to Immigration every time - not for me! Cheaper hotels and apartments will be the answer.

As ever more demanding checks by Immigration, certain countries (mainly from Africa), now have to have a police check conducted before applying for an annual marriage or retirement extension at CW - these checks get sent directly to CW Immigration by Police HQ.

Do I need to get the appropriate letter from Immigration at CW requesting a police check, or has anyone had recent experience of heading directly to the Police fingerprint section without getting the required 'requisition' letter from Immigration.

I ask, as this will mean a separate long trip to Immigration just to ask for this letter - apparently can take some time for Immigration to print out their 'requisition,' as they are so busy with agents and other tasks.

Also used in Thailand for many African applicants applying for visas and extensions of stay at Immigration. Immigration supplies a request letter to Police HQ, and one then has to make a special trip for fingerprinting.

Racial profiling at best!

As befits Thailand, racist profiling and discrimination!

I am well aware that even 10 years ago Thai Embassy in Vientienne was rejecting visa applications from South Africans, advising me that they can't do anything for people from Africa, and now-retired Big Joke was quoted as saying recently that people of colour and South Africans in Thailand are up to no good.

Now some South African retirement and marriage extension applicants in Thailand are required to get a police clearance certificate, so this entails another visit to Immigration to obtain a special letter requesting assistance from Police Clearance division before their extension application can be checked.

What an utter waste of time and money!