Robin

Could no agree more. RTE in London website application for Non O has such a ridiculous number of demands that i gave up and came on 'no visa' entry, hoping to extend when in Thailand. No problems with entry , now waiting to see how easy to extend to Retirement visa. If Thailand want longer term tourists, why does it no make it easy to get a long term visa?? I sued to get Non Imm. visa a London. So easy, fill in a single page form. pay fee, and collect visa next day. No need for all thsi supporting doc. stuff; hotel booking, copies of passport pages

Look at my earlier thread :Returning to Thailand" I entered last week on 30 day non visa. Went to my local I/O (Phayao) and asked about converting to Non O retirement, which I have been using for some years, but it expired while I was in UK. According to I/O I saw, not a problem, but will have to be a 'special service' at Phayao, as approval will have to be obtained from Chiang Rai Immigration. She checked that I qualified for Retirement visa, with 800K in my bank. I am booked to attend Immigration next Wed to start this process, and I will report on progress. Suggestion was made that there would be an additional fee, over the 2000B visa fee, to cover the cost of taking my passport to Chiang Rai, but I do not mind paying, rather than using an agent. Hopefully fee not too steep. I have been on Retirement for some years , and it seems top be a good way of long term residence in LOS

Arrived back in Thailand this week, and others might be interested in my experience, as rules do not seem to be clear. I originally wanted to get a Non Imm. O at London RTE, but i was discourage by the amount of paperwork required to be posted with application. I flew on TG 911 and turned up at LHR with no visa. Check -in was no problem, I was only asked to show my Covid vaccinations. I have a Thai yellow book vaccination certificate. ON arrival at BK , I have never seen Immigration so empty, I went straight to head of line and presented my passport. No TM6' had been given out on the flight. I had to provide my boarding pass. (NB, lucky I still had it. What would have happened if i had thrown it away on the flight?) I/O correctly told me that my retirement visa had expired and gave me 30day entry. Next day went to my local I/O at Phayao and showed visa to I/O there and sked if i could convert this to a Non O retirement visa. This was possible, but only as a "special service". I have been given an appointment for net Wed to bring the normal Retirement visa paperwork, bank statements etc. and told the it will take 'some time' to issue me with Retirement visa, as my passport will have to go to Chiang Rai for approval. I will have to pay for this service, as well as the normal 2000B visa fee. I/O was unusually (for I/O) helpful and pleasant, so I'll wait to see how I get on next Week. OP the face of it, this seems to be far less fuss than the 'correct' procedure of getting non O from RET and the simply applying fro retirement extension. AT LHR or on arrival , there was no requirement for onward flight, even thought I was flying on a 1 way ticket.

Any I/O is a public servant and her job is to enforce the existing Immigration law fairy and correctly. Any comments she has with the law should be directed to her superiors, not the public.. O/P is not the first, nor will be the last, to take advantage of Thailand's no visa entry policy. Only TV members who have Always got a visa, have any right to criticize O/P IMO, the hassles that getting a normal Non ) or 3 month visa fully justify using any legal means to visit LOS. If Thailand want tourists to come it has to make it easy for them to do so. I agree with O/P that it used to be easy to get visa; call at embassy, ill in 1 page form, pay fee and collect visa next day, not the fuss on-line that is now required.

Don't want to make the test to strict, too many vehicles would fail, and that would cause problem. If all the unroadworthy vehicles and unlicensed drivers were taken off the roads, Thailand would be deserted.

Nothing like some competition to improve services. It is know as market forces

I have always taken the risk. now 78 and probably could not get insurance. I keep 2M baht in my bank which serves for visa and medical emergencies. Thinking that if I need all the money for medical treatment i will not be needed a visa for long.

Fact of life in rural Thailand. Many Thais do not complain because they can remember the days when there was no electricity to their village, and something is often better than nothing. I am not sure if EGAT has woken up to the concept that users want a 100% reliable supply. Where I live, Phayao, 100% certain that electricity goes off when there is a thunder storm or heavy rain. Maybe this is what EGAT calls reliable?

I have had Honda and Kawasaki powered brush cutters. Honda much more reliable and locals appear to know how to repair them. Noted that all Thai workers cutting grass verges use Honda, so probably proved reliable. Spares? local mechanic appears to be able to get parts from local shops in Phayao, so I have always assumed tha spares are easy for Hondas, but why go further afield to Honda if local shop has what you need. I suspect that half the battle is knowing what the part is called in Thai

Some years ago, so may not be relevant now, i got new UK passport and old one was stapled to it with a note explaining that this had been done by UKPA as old passport had a valid visa (for China) in it. When i got new UK passport in Bangkok, I was given a letter to local Thai I/O asking them to transfer my current retirement visas into new passport. No problems with local I/O and no charge. Any questions, I would visit VFS office in BKK as they were incredibly busy and I can't see the bothering with e-mail questions. If you are changing UK bank accounts, make sure you transfer the money from old account to new before you close the old account.

You might find that non-slip floor tiles are more expensive that other tiles that are wall tiles. Thus Thai builder could suggest wall tiles for the floor, since they think they are saving you money. Also floor tiles are thicker and hence more difficult to cut to size. Find your self a workman who knows how to lay tiles, and he will advise you. Avoid wannabe workmen don't know the basics of tiling. When we had our house built, I was working away and a wannabe laid wall tiles on all the floors. Lethal when wet, and not even flat. Patio recently tiles by local workman who knew his stuff. He measured for the tiles, and also told how much cement would be needed. Bought everything from local builders merchant who delivered. Easiest to know a decent workman as he should have all the tools he needs. Avoid any who start off by asking you to buy the tools, cutters, floats, etc.

perhaps the reason why most Thais never change their wiper blades

Do you have a Thai Credit/debit/ ATM card? Can be useful in LOS, but remember it is Debit card and might have a low spending limit, and not much use for on-line purchases. Check with you issuing bank. I have always kept a UK credit card (Mastercard) to use for emergencies and buying air tickets via Expedia, but be aware that Mastercard will not send you a new card to Thailand Genmerally i do not find a Credit card very useful in LOS. Most retailers do not want you to use it and my Kbank card does not give me a statement or any credit, so only a very limited debit/atm card Hopefully sometime in the next 100 yrs Thailand will catch up with the west on this (Thailand 4.0?)

If your pension is increased during your stay, does it fall back to the old sum when you leave? I have been in UK for the last 6 months and returning to LOS next week. I never knew I could get any sort of increase unless I was permanently back in UK. if I had known I would have tried. Especially now there is high inflation coming to UK an promises of pension increases. I think it disgraceful that UK does not pay the full pension to us retirees who live overseas. think how much we are saving NHS by paying for our own treatment.

I hope to be arriving in BKK next week and travelling on to Chiang Rai. i do not really want to hang about in Bangkok. Is there still transport from Swampy to Don Muang? I seem to remember there used to be an Airport bus that ran between the two places, free if you could show flight res. from the other airport. Is this still running, or will I need to take a taxi? Not too worried about the cost, but I do not want to start my visit with the normal argument with a miserable Thai taxi driver if I can simply sit in a bus.

Marmite is a Vegan approved product, promoted as such on the label. made from yeast extract. I assume that Vegemite is the same

Thailand became a popular tourist destination just because entry was as easy as O/P states, ignoring that he flew J class. At the time when Thailand tourism was on the rise, anyone could get a cheap ticket to Bangkok and enter on a 30 day, no visa entry, and the have a good time during that 30 days, spending money as they wanted. Maybe, these people were not the "high quality" tourists that TAT is now dreaming of attracting, but many spent sizeable sums of hard cash in the major destinations. If TAT and the Junta really wanted to revive Tourism, this is where they should be looking, not dreaming up new entry requirements and confusing restrictions. Some of this who first came as back-packers clutching LP guides, are now well off in their home countries and might be looking to revisit LOS and revive memories of their youth, and would probably spend more than the Chinese/Indians that TAT is now hoping to attract. Thailand needs to make entry easy, and o publicise that it is easy. I am coming back to LOS next week, mainly because I am reassured by what i read here, that entry will be easy, and that as I am fully Vacced, I will be allowed in with no hassle. If I had relied on what is on RTE web-site and info on applying for a 'tourist Visa', I would not be travelling. It is very difficult to think that TAT actually wants tourism to go back to as it was 10yrs ago.

Thanks for this information. Always good to have some personal experience so as to know what is coming. if TAT was on the ball and waned tourists to flock back, they would be publicising these experiences and making sure that all potential tourist knew how easy it could be to enter Thailand, like it used to be with a civilian government.

Always best to go with your wife when doing this. She can explain things o I/O in Thai. My advice would be to go to Immigration and make an appointment in advance and get I/O to write down in Thai or English, exactly what documents you will need for your extension. Saves time when you make the extension.

Do not make my mistake and let your visa expire while you are away. past experience is that re-entry plus valid visa has always been OK at UK airports. I believe that if you know you are going to be away when your visa expires, you can ask for an early extension/renewal. I did this a BKK once, pre-Covid. Depend on your local I/O but worth asking.

"There is no inheritance tax to pay on anything left to a spouse, unless different rules apply to a foreign spouse, albeit one married in the UK." Care with this! I had my accountant in UK look into inheritance tax for my wife. seems that as she is not a UK citizen, she is liable for inheritance tax on UK assets, subject to normal UK law. I have been told by my bank in Singapore that all assets there are exempt from inheritance and capital gains tax as I am a non-resident. perhaps one of the attractions of Singapore as a business centre. Very grateful for all the advice given here, it has clarified my situation. Bottom line is:- Everything in Thailand is in wife's name and no concern of mine, I just live here on her tolerance. When I die, it is up to her what she does with it. Past experience suggests that she is not easily parted from her cash. What I have in Thailand is mainly bank account with visa funds (800,000 Baht + some reserve) which I will not care too much about. wife can argue that with Kbank. If she predeceases me, then after the funeral I would walk away and leave her family to fight over her estate. Probably with draw as much cash as Kbank will let me and change that on the way out. All my assets not in Thailand are accounted for in my UK will and I am assured by reputable solicitors/executors that will is water-tight. I am not going to be very interested at that time. I have no dependants in UK and no contact with any surviving family, so they get nothing. Wife has the Thai belief "If you talk or think about something, you will make it happen" and will only discuss these topics under great duress. I have done my best to provide for her, but it will finally be up to her. I know that she can comfortably live out her life in the village with what she owns, and if she is stupid ang gives too much away trying to impress her family that she is "Big Sister" that will be her problem, but 40 yrs experience suggests that she will hang on to her money. Unlikely that wife will make a will, she tells ne that her family will sort out her estate, as they have when other members died. Up to her and her family. I have learned not to interfere

"Doesn’t the TAT want tourists here in Thailand?" Short answer is No, they do not, and never have wanted mass tourism. The idea of hoards of disrespectful farangs in Thailand has always been hated by the elite. Sex tourism has never been wanted, but it made so much money it had to be tolerated. The pre-Covid tourism boom has given TAT the idea that the world wants to visit Thailand and will do almost anything to do so. Hence the nonsense restrictions for entry now and in the past year. When I first started visiting Thailand, I could get a 60 day entry visa at any embassy by simply filling in a paper form and paying a small fee. Now it has to be done on-line and requires copies of air tickets, passport pages and other stuff, so who is going to bother unless they really want or need to come to Thailand. I do not think that it is a coincidence that Thailand now has a military government, and i cannot see the situation improving until TAT is run by more pragmatic people. Those of us who have made our lives in Thailand will just have to put up with the current lot and make the best of it, or look for somewhere else where we might be more welcome.

Sparked by a discussion on this board, I have found something new to worry about. . I am not getting any younger or fitter (now 78) and fully expect Khun wife to survive me, and I want her to be provided for. We were legally married in UK, but not in Thailand. We have been together for nearly 40 yrs. I have made a will in UK, covering everything I own.:- Property in UK, Money in bank in UK and Singapore Everything we own in Thailand is in wife's name ( land, house, car..) I have on bank account at Kasikorn of my retirement visa, and another joint with wife. Wife assures me that when I die, all in Thailand will go to her, and has been instructed as to how to inform my solicitor (executor) in UK Can anyone with more knowledge of Thai legal system comment on this as I want everything to e as easy as possible for her when I go. Wife has not made a will, as her mother told her it would be 'bad luck' think about her death. Wife and I agree that if she should pre-decease me, everything in Thailand except my bank account would go to her family, and they can sort it out between themselves. I would not want to live on in the village, but would return to UK We do not have any children but wife has niece she has brought up a daughter, and expects that she should inherit everything in Thailand. To me, everything seems to be in place for easy procedures when either of us die. Am I living in a fool's paradise it will not be as easy as I hope? Wife and her family are typical country Thais with no knowledge of legal matters, as I suspect that many(most) Thais are Being cynical, I am sure that wife's family fully expect to get everything we own in Thailand, and i am not going to try to contest this. AFIK all our property, house. land, in Thailand is properly registered in wife's maiden name, as appears on her ID card and Thai passport. She has ll the paper-work stowed away in our house. I am not looking for a way to get possession of this property, I would probably just walk away after the funeral and leave i all to her family.