Dexxter

On 1/5/2020 at 11:51 AM, ChipButty said:

Consider yourself lucky to be denied entry in to Thailand Im sure you will end up thanking them one day

They may have saved you from multiple sick buffaloes, needy families and a lost house up in Nakhon Nowhere. They may have saved you many tens of thousands of dollars.

8 hours ago, cerox said:

Do not enter via Bangkok, I am pretty sure you will get denied, very high risk. Visa exempt you should only enter via land border.

Which is really weird because elsewhere I have read that you can have unlimited visa exempt entries if you fly in, but only 2 per year by land border. So much contradictory information around. I too wish they would FIX the rules in place and make sure everyone was on the same page.

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

But how long of an overstay. I don't think they would deny an application for 1 or 2 days.

Do you really want to be the person who tests their system?

On 12/17/2019 at 1:43 PM, Chazar said:

waste  of time unless they increase   carriages to 6 per  train as a minimum and doubt their platforms are  long enough anyway

The BTS stations have more station gates than train doors so they can easily add more cars. The MRT stations could probably handle trains 2 or 3 times the current length.

Then there is this....

9 hours ago, genericptr said:

https://thaiembdc.org/tourist-visa-category-tr-multiple-metv/

 

8. A letter proof of employment ( **we don’t accept pay stubs**)

 

I just had a look at that web site and the list of requirements are stricter in the USA than in Australia for the same METV.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/564565b4e4b03880a2ff050f/t/5d50dcff27cc360001d17537/1565580549825/TR_Multiple_12082019.pdf

Recent passport-sized photograph (3.5 x 4.5 cm) of the applicant

- Only one photo required. ????

Copy of updated bank statement providing of adequate finances of AUD 950 per person (THB 20,000) or AUD 2,000 per family (THB 40,000)

- Although for METV see below...

Confirmed accommodation under your name for the duration of your stay in Thailand

- Does not have to be a hotel. My condo lease contract has been accepted so far.

Additional documents required for Tourist visa for Multiple Entries

Copy of updated bank statement providing of adequate finances of AUD 8,000 per person(THB 200,000)

- There has not been a requirement for the balance to be there for 6 months. A credit card with AUD 8000 balance available is all I ever show and has been accepted so far. If needed I can also show a pension fund with several hundred thousand dollars available but this has never been asked for.

There is a field for "Occupation" on the one page application form, in which I always write "Retired". There is no "Proof of Employment" or "Letter from Employer" in the list of documents required with the application.

Another interesting thing was that last month I tried to apply for a Non-Immigrant Multi Entry visa based on marriage. My partner and I have been together for more than 4 years and under Australian law we qualify as a de-facto couple, but the Thai consulate would not accept my application without a marriage certificate saying they operated under Thai law. She then suggested I continue using METVs to visit my partner even though I said I was worried about being denied entry at the Thai border. Like I said in another post, they try to be helpful. ????

Perhaps Australians are more trustworthy than Americans? 5555555

22 hours ago, genericptr said:

So the METV only allows 60 days like a single entry???

The "M" in METV signifies Multi-entry. It is not the same as a single entry visa (SETV). Each entry (as many as you want) is limited to 60 days. With this visa you can be in Thailand up to 6 months plus approx 60 days if your final entry is just before the expiry date of the visa, but you MUST leave before each 60 days, as shown on your entry stamp, expires. Be aware, these days, it might get tricky getting past the Immigration Officers after the first few times if you spend "too much time" in Thailand whatever that means although it probably won't be a problem if this is your first METV.

On 12/12/2019 at 8:28 AM, genericptr said:

The lesson here is probably not to tell them you're visiting family for 6 months

I always say I am going on holiday to Thailand and never mention staying with my Thai partner for the duration. Holidays are easy to explain. A 4-5 year relationship not so easy. The way I see it is that if they think you are in a long term relationship you are more likely to overstay your "tourist" visa. Or they decide you are not a "real" tourist and tell you to apply for another type of visa which I don't want to do. The METV is the right visa for my needs because I spend about half my time in Thailand and the other half in Australia.

I also put 60 days for my stay in Thailand, because you must leave the country within that time unless applying for an extension. They don't seem to get confused by my 60 day stay and return flight 5 months in the future.

On 12/12/2019 at 1:44 AM, johnmell said:

I presume they want a letter from the employer, saying it is ok to have 6 months off, but who knows.

Having a METV does not necessarily mean a person is staying in Thailand for 6 months. It is a MULTI-ENTRY visa. You can have a 3 week holiday in Thailand and return 5 months later for another 3 weeks, or some combination between. There are also people who earn a heap of money doing contract work (eg. my son) who can then take a few months off work for a holiday. There are also retired people (eg. me) who use the METV to visit Thailand on a regular basis because, for a variety of reasons, it is more convenient than one of the other visa types.

By the way, being retired, I have never had to show a letter from my (non-existent) employer to get an METV. Proof of funds, proof of accommodation (condo lease), and a return ticket (5 months for return flight) was all they ever requested.

14 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

For correct information regarding the responsibility to submit the TM.30 please read section 38 of the Immigration Act, the read the definition of House-Master in section 4.

"House Master ” means any persons who is the chief possessor of a house , whether in the capacity of
owner , tenant , or in any other capacity whatsoever , in accordance with the law on people act."

Includes TENANT in the definition. According to this then we are responsible for TM30 not the owner of the condo. This seems to go against everything people have been saying in these forums. It actually makes more sense to make it the tenant's responsibility because for most condo owners it would be almost impossible to know when a tenant travels especially for shorter periods.

5 hours ago, Max69xl said:

The money is for tourist visa holders and for people on 30 days visa exempt. 

Look at the yellow notice board in the previous post. The cash requirement includes Non-Immigrant visas. (Point #2)

7 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Is a bank statement from the country of origin showing the foreign currency balance is well above the requirement acceptable?

Which part of "CASH" do you not understand? ????

9 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

Really is crazy in this day and age, when the modern world is almost cashless (I never carry cash in UK or europe, maybe a 50 rolled up in my card clip for emergency use) that Thailand demands CASH for traveller almost certainly reliant on debit / credit cards. 

I always carry enough cash to last me the complete stay. I try to avoid ATMs and my Visa card except as a last resort. By converting actual cash banknotes I save abut 10-12% on what I would have to pay cashless (fees and the worst exchange rate possible). I know there are some banks that are not too bad but none are as good as cash for currency conversion and I don't want to stuff around trying to find a suitable bank, open accounts, etc. The only thing I pay through my bank is my condo rent because that would be tricky doing with cash, but I grit my teeth every time I see the crappy rates on those payments.

Last trip I was here 5 months and AUD$16k was enough to cover all expenses including a couple of short holidays out of the country. I even took some back home with me. I just have to be careful not to show the IO the whole wad of cash else I might be "asked" for a substantial "tip".

If I was staying in a hotel then I would not consider cash because of the risk of theft, even from the room safe, but my condo on the 18th floor of a secured building is safe enough for me. Of course when I am back in Australia, I use my cards for most purchases, and pay all my bills with direct bank transfers, but there are no/minimal fees and no currency conversion to suffer.

Anyway, each to their own.

19 hours ago, moldresistant said:

According to Thai labor law, the definition of work is "exerting effort" and "employing knowledge", "whether or not for wages or other benefits"

So if I exert myself and get out of bed in the morning and employ my knowledge of where to get breakfast, I am breaking the law because I receive a benefit in the form of nourishment? ????

On 10/27/2019 at 7:48 PM, UncleMhee said:

Off topic, but there's more temples than 7/11's in Chiang Mai.

 

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2182280/chiang-mai-good-bad-and-ugly-sides-thailands-second

Bangkok must be different then. There are 6 7-11s and 2 Family Marts within a 5 minute walk from my condo. There is only one Thai temple in the same area, assuming the Ganesha Shrine over the road does not count, but even then it only makes 2 vs 8.

9 hours ago, BritTim said:

Someone with the right technical skills could almost certainly track you down based on your online persona.

A couple of years ago I was chatting with some guy on the net and the topic of identity came up. He said he was not worried because nobody would be able to find him anyway. Five minutes later I sent him a screenshot of the front of his house in the USA taken from Google Streetview. That is how long it took me to find out where he lived from various comments he had made the past few months. People forget that you can google just about anything these days. If you know a person's name and a few other snippets of info about them, then it is often possible to find out much more. Too late for me on FB but in all other places I never use my real name online.

2 hours ago, owenm said:

Now social media comments can have far reaching consequences in Thailand if care isn't taken.. 

I don't post anything that may be risky on FB. I have read in recent news where even Thai people have been arrested and charged for just clicking the LIKE button for some comment on FB that authorities did not like. Self censorship has become a big thing the past few years, not just in Thailand but also in places where SJWs run rampant. Many of my friends make a point of never commenting or "liking" anything on the net.