Winston Smith

3 minutes ago, aqua4 said:

Yes, we are all on our way out one way or another. That welcome mat has been pulled out some time ago as Thailand has become very anti-Western. Some here hope that everything is going to go on forever but look how the TM30 just turned everyone sour. You might be a guy living on the fringes of the rules however I am under no illusion that we are all up for a kick out.  They dont want us here - period.

 

• The continual kick foreigners out raids (Correct but why advertise it unless to send a message?)
• Two well known expats in Thailand starting to complain about delays and that fallout (TV crowd - if you dont like it here ...)
• TM 30 craziness with some expats thinking they can change things (Thais will not lose face to expats)
• Retirement visa where it now looks like you will have to keep loads of your money in the bank permanently -- soon enough 

Its all going to pot in a handbag and you who wish to deny the fact that they are pushing people out slowly but surely. You will get the final solution to the problem soon enough. Your ticket is in the line no different to me.

 

Hi can you tell me more about the "TM 30 craziness" ? I have no idea what that is. As far as being on the fringe of the rules, all I can say is "what rules"? The only place where people tell you the rules is this forum which seems to be heavily infested with trolls who pretend there are rules when in fact the rules don't seem to exist, but can be magically, whimsically dreamed up on the spot by a government official.

Franz Kafka rolls in his grave.

3 minutes ago, SpanishExpat said:

I just can`t understand it. Why so many guys with long-term plans are relying on <deleted>ty SETV from ASEAN-Countries? Is it just convenience or the lack of money to fly back their home-countries. A METV from the home-country is so much safer and I never heard of denials without a reason. My consulate in Germany would be happy to issue me METV forever..year by year. Sadly, the Thai Government won`t allow it and the IO would deny sooner or later. But that`s not the issue here. 

 

In regard to the Filipinos etc. Thailand NEEDS them for the thousand of <deleted>ty jobs. That`s the big difference and that`s why they (and Lao, Myanmar, Cambodians etc) are allowed hassle-free.

You're assuming that the current status quo will remain in place. Everything is in transition. Just because it's easy to get an METV visa this year in Germany doesn't mean it will be easy next year. Prior to 2019 Savannakhet was a stupidly easy place to get a visa too ????

TLDR;

For all those considering getting a 2nd tourist visa at Savannakhet - don't waste your time.

I had been reading various reports on this forum about people being knocked back at SVK but decided to give it a try as an alternative to returning to my country. I have 1 previous SETV issued this year, and prior to that an OA visa which was issued in Australia in 2017 (I am over 50). Prior to the OA visa I had 1 METV from AU & 2 TV from SVK in 2015/2016.

When my last OA entry was reaching its expiry earlier this year I discovered to my horror that in order to extend it I would need to transfer significant funds into a Thai bank. This was a no-op for me due to the terrible exchange rate in 2019. I also discovered that the immigration authorities would no longer accept a witnessed affidavit as proof of income. So I opted to get a TV or 2 and do a bit of travelling in between. When the first TV expired (after 30 day extension) I spent 1 month in Cambodia, and then travelled to SVK. I thought that spending a month or so out of the country might help in terms of smoothing another visa. I have never overstayed nor had any issues whatsoever with the authorities. 

I had all documents properly prepared including a bank statement with a healthy balance. I was well dressed, clean shaven and had a friendly "can do" attitude. I arrived on a Tuesday - having done due diligence and discovered that Mondays were a bad choice due to the visa run vans.

The consulate was quiet. I was number 3 in the queue when the doors opened. The man behind the window at the consulate was wearing a face mask - not a good sign in retrospect.

He had a look at my bank statement and casually flipped through my passport then, pulling his mask away from his face, asked me "what do you do in Thailand?". I replied - "holiday & tourism".  He then said "you cannot get tourist visa - you stay over 90 days". He then handed me back my application & passport. I should note that he did not use a computer and did not annotate my passport in any way. He just handed it back to me. His on the spot decision was guided solely by flipping through the pages of my passport in a brief and desultory manner. His examination of my passport indeed was so brief that I can hardly believe he really took in and processed the dates.

When he said "you stay over 90 days" he was pointing at the visa issued in April 2019. He made no mention of the earlier visas. I felt like arguing with him, because I didn't stay over 90 days on the visa. Total time was about 87 days including the extension. Perhaps he was counting the days from the issuing of the visa until today and didn't notice that I had already been out of Thailand for over a month?  We will never know. I did not bother arguing it as I think he ought to have been able to work that out himself and debating the point may have led to an unpleasant scene. He already seemed a little annoyed. So I thanked him, took my papers back and left the consulate.

MY DECISION

After this experience I have decided that Thailand is no longer the place for me. I may still get another OA visa later this year from AU but only as an interim while I find somewhere better to live.

To summarise, there are several problems facing foreigners: 

• the arbitrary and capricious application of unwritten rules at consulates
• horrific reports of people being put in detention for no good reason in airports
• constant changing of visa regulations

These problems seem to highlight an increasing hostility from those in power towards westerners. I do say westerners, and I will be more blunt and say "white people", because this group does seem to be increasingly targeted. By comparison, hundreds of Filipinos are arriving on Mondays and Thursdays in visa run vans and are being issued "tourist visas". I saw this myself the last time I was here and others have noted it too. Something is not right here.

This increasing passive aggressive hostility towards westerners has coincided with a dictatorial military government which has banned free speech for Thais and sought to stamp out street food in Bangkok. I'm sure there is much more going on than this, but all this is enough for me to say enough! 

Time to move on. Have a nice day ????