James105

Another 200 million pounds completely wasted and they have learned absolutely nothing from this as they have reverted to flawed inaccurate modeling again instead of using the actual excess death data and comparing against other countries/states who took a different approach. The pandemic plans for an outbreak like this were meticulously planned in prior decades by cool scientific heads and were thrown in the bin by the panicking idiots in charge in only the second week. This led to demands from the panicking public to destroy the economy and take away freedoms, destroy kids educations, probably kill more people from heart attacks/cancers due to hospitals becoming a covid only/ TikTok dance service... and all for nothing. For a worse result than Sweden who didn't do any of these things. So the rich got richer, the poor got poorer, the country got (even more) massively in debt that will take generations to pay back (if ever) and it achieved a higher excess death rate than Sweden.

So just to wrap up on this and provide closure, I ended up going the agent route as it is too inconvenient for me to leave the country right now and I wanted as close to 100% guarantee that I will get this visa without issue. I went to see 2 different agents, Manereet and OneStop and the user experience is quite different between them. Manereet. Cost of 3 month Non-o + 12 month extension = 30,000. Operates a bit differently to how I would expect an agent to work as they give you a list of things to do yourself such as get 6 passport photos (not included in the 30,000 cost and have to be obtained from another shop) and give a slip of paper to pass to the bank, again to do by yourself. They do not seem to do much (anything) in the way of "hand holding" nor explain much (anything) about the process or where the passport will be sent to (just they need to keep for 1 month), hands you a couple of slips of paper and sends you on your way to do the initial busy work. Also wanted "ATM Card" for reasons they didn't explain which I found very strange as the ATM card doesn't even have my name on it, and the only useful info on there is the card number, expiry and CVC code. OneStop. Cost of 3 month Non-O + 12 month extension = 29,000. Operates like I'd expect an agent to operate, gives full advice, takes photos and printouts in shop, accompanies you to the bank to explain what is needed to the bank clerk and then meets at immigration for another photo taken by immigration to get the 3 month visa. So this is the one I used as they didn't send me on my way with a couple of bits of paper to do the busy work, they actually helped. They did not want or need my ATM card for anything. Inflation seems to be quite high in the agent world as both quoted 3000+ more than when I went to see them last month. For time reasons I didn't try any of the other agents to see if cheaper options available. Using your own 800K in the bank seems to have no impact on the cost of visa via an agent, but I used my own anyway so that I can DIY next year if I want to or I can always not worry about keeping the account 800K+ and pay 15K next year to use agent for 12 month extension. If I'd had the foresight to put the money in the bank a week or two earlier I would have saved myself 20,000+. Lesson learned. One other clarification point is that it seems the Non-O visa has to be applied 20-21 days in advance of visa exempt expiry so I presume the 15 days mentioned earlier in this thread is 15 business days.

It's a stupid policy that is ignored by most anyway. If really I wanted to have an alcoholic drink between 2-5pm and I lacked the foresight to purchase crates of alcohol before 2pm then I can think of countless places to buy it from anyway. This trial will really just affect chains like 7/11 and supermarkets that follow the rules so the very predicable outcome of this is trial is that 7/11 will make a bit more money from selling alcohol during those times and mom/pop stores will make a bit less, otherwise there will be zero difference. If they were in the business of wanting to "save lives" they could maybe start with proper deterrents for drink driving and not wearing helmets.

The UK's biggest liar has spoken. What we can read from this is that if he doesn't manage to delay it indefinitely that the inquiry will be watered down, and will not be a thorough examination of the offenders ethnicity and especially not their religion.

Americans have the right to free speech and this does not affect Americans as they do not need to apply for a visa to enter America. Even the most vile and disgusting Americans can celebrate Chariie Kirks murder without the state kicking down their doors and arresting them. Foreigners are not protected by the first amendment and America has a right to refuse entry to their country if they prefer not to allow such abhorrent individuals into America. Those who wish to visit or enter America will now be aware that if they celebrate the murder of an American citizen then America might not want to allow them to enter. Seems perfectly reasonable to me, and as I am not a vile individual that celebrates someones murder for having a different view to me I will remain unaffected.

The UK is officially not a safe country for Jewish people, so much so that their fans are not allowed to attend a football match due to the murderous backward Islamists and leftist supporters who wish harm on a minority religion/race. This is shameful.

Why should it? Presumably you would want to see consequences for failure? Some people are mentally retarded or have other conditions that prevent them from having perfect English skills. Some mental disabilities occur from the result of incestuous marriages common amongst a certain religion. These people would likely fail an English test. After you have finished rolling on the floor laughing at them when they fail where would you like to deport them to?

Let's hope the UK follows Thailand and imposes similar restrictions on foreigners entering the UK: 1. Cannot buy land. 2. Cannot work 3. White English people get half price at Alton towers and other tourist attractions. 4. Detention and deport for any overstayers / illegal arrivals. No appeal. 5. No access to taxpayer funded benefits. 6. No free medical care.

And what if it was a fraudulent transaction and there will never be proof of Thai address? The UK person loses access to their money forever? That does not sound correct. Are you sure this person really wants to send you the money and is not just making up an excuse so they do not have to send you the money? A common excuse I use for requests for money from my ex is that I only have a UK bank account and my bank does not let me transfer money to Thailand. Not true of course but saves me money and this strategy has successfully prevented the inevitable future requests for the same without making me look like the bad guy for not wanting to "lend" her the money.

Really? I didn't realize as they have kept it so quiet. Who is heading the enquiry? You have a link?

Uk gov: Right we need a policy for the plebs that doesn't cost anything and will distract from the fact that we haven't started the grooming rape gang national enquiry and the black hole that didn't really exist before that now does exist and has doubled/trebled in size. Aides: Bring back hanging? Uk Gov: No! Aides: Shall we check the manifesto? Uk Gov: Now you are just being silly. Aides: Ok how about letting them drink in the pubs a bit longer? Uk Gov: That'll do.

How long have Reform been in charge of this council? Since May? Labour just spent £532,000 on moving the dot and changing the background color on the gov.uk website. https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/civil-servants-gov-uk-logo-spend-500k-5Hjd6fX_2/ Glass houses etc.

Who do you think makes the laws? Which world power does the government in the UK answer to? Face it, the Overton window has shifted on this. Multiculturalism is an absolute disaster of a policy. These next 4 years of incompetent, weak government will be the last time illegal immigrants will be welcomed into the UK at the expense of the UK taxpayer and maybe, just maybe, the era of mass deportations will begin to get the UK back on track as a serious country that puts its own citizens before non citizens.

I've slept on it and I'm torn. Seems I have 3 options: 1. Get a 30 day extension to my 60 day tourist visa then apply for the non O visa. This is tight as it will be about 15 calendar days before the extension expires when the money will have been in my account for 60 days. Is it even 15 calendar days or 15 business days or depends on the whim of the IO so could be either? 2. Leave the country in (lets say) beginning of November, pop to somewhere like Manila or Laos and apply for the non O there. Then just get a 12 month retirement extension in Jomtien direct with immigration. Is this just an e-visa and simple to get? 3. Use an agent and accept the shaky legal ground I would then be on for the rest of my time in Thailand (which will probably be decades), but is also financially cost effective and avoids me needing to deal with immigration.

Ah I see. I'm okay with the ethics of it all as where the money sits seems arbitrary to me and whether it sits in a Thai bank account at 0% interest or (let's say) an immediately accessible 4% savings account doesn't really seem to make any difference, so long is its accessible for whatever reason they deem it to be there as a requirement such as medical bills for instance. So I guess it comes down to risk acceptance then (from my perspective) and the chances that a crackdown that implicates all the agents, immigration officers and the visa holders occurs. Something to ponder at any rate.

Actually I'm warming to the idea of using an agent which I mention above based on the requirement to keep an (effectively) inaccessible 800,000 in the bank account: From the sounds of things (although I've not been down to confirm this) it will cost ~26,000 for the initial OA and retirement extension with (for example) maneerat agent, then 12,500 each year afterwards. Even if I keep the 800,000 Baht in a 4% savings account it comes out as this: I've now got myself in a position why I'm wondering why anyone wouldn't use an agent who will do all the work, which means avoiding dealing with immigration and the numbers mean I save money on it too.

Thanks. I am now also considering if I should just do what everyone else seems to do and use agent for initial visa + extensions on a permanent basis as keeping 800,000 locked in a bank account not doing anything makes the DIY option less cost effective than just investing that money. Keeping that 800,000 (equivalent) as cash in a Trading212 account which yields 4% interest equates to 34,000 Bahts per year, which means the agent is actually the more cost effective option and they do the work. Seems a bit of a no brainer to me unless I'm missing something here.

Ok, guess that idea is scuppered as well as TM30 will be filed at Jomtien! Thanks for your help, I'll give it a few more weeks when I will have a new lease agreement and go see immigration at Jomtien and see if they will let me do it, otherwise I'll go see Maneerat.

Ok got it thank you. So this means it will be tight as my bank is at 800K+ as at 25 September so 2 months from that is 25 November and extending 30 days will mean my permission of stay expires 9 December, just about exactly 15 days remaining. Bit too close for comfort. If Jomtien is the only one that requires 2 months seasoning then can I just pop to Bangkok immigration and do the first part there for the 90 day stamp or am I obliged to use the local immigration?

Ah, I was under the impression that the 800K needed to be in my Thai bank account for at least 2 months. I transferred it from my own UK bank account 1 week ago and can prove the funds and the transfer from there - is that what you are suggesting is all I need to do to meet this requirement? I'm in Pattaya and received the 60 day entry stamp when I got back from a holiday in the UK earlier this month, so is that is step 1 complete? So I can just pop to immigration and obtain a 12 month retirement extension and I don't need to have a 12 month rental contract that has at least 2 months to run or anything? Honestly no idea what the agent was doing for 30K. She mentioned it had to be done "under the table" with immigration so presume that includes some kind of bribe to immigration and part of it was to sell me a fake rental contract for 3K(!) She completely ignored my request to do everything legitimately and refused to tell me how much the visa would cost minus the agent fee so I left at that point never to return.

So I've made a few mistakes with switching visas from an elite visa I didn't renew in time (had to be renewed 90 days prior to expiring) due to awaiting a decision on an LTR visa which was then rejected. The elite visa expired on 23 September so I am currently on a 60 day entry tourist stamp from when I got back to Thailand on 12 September. My last resort option is to apply for retirement visa but due to aforementioned mistakes I thought I would just use an agent for this after regretting not using one for the LTR visa. I know the requirements and I have the required 800,000 in my Thai bank account, but due to not expecting to need to have 800K in my account as I felt sure I would get one of the other visas I only added the extra funds a week ago. My understanding it would need to be in the bank for 2 months prior to applying. Anyway, my initial goal was to get a 3 month tourist visa, then swap it for retirement visa. I went into one of the recommended agents in the area to enquire and maybe I went in at a bad time as the office was kind of empty apart from one Thai woman who seemed to be engrossed in her phone when I went in and I had to get her attention as she didn't seem to hear the bell when I entered the office. Anyway the long and the short of it is that: 1. She said I needed the 800K in my account for 6 months, not 2 months. 2. She said I needed a 12 month rental contract (which I have but expires on 6 November as I am moving to new place on 16 October). She said my current contract is no good as it needs at least 2 months remaining. 3. She said this visa would cost me 29,500 Bahts as she needed to do it "under the table". She refused to tell me how much was agent fee vs cost of visa when I asked. I didn't think my situation would require any under the table shenanigans so I said no thanks, but I am loath to do this without an agent after previous mistakes. Is the information she gave me correct and am I going to need to get an "under the table visa" here?

Not only will Farage deal with the "FARAGE BOAT PROBLEM" he will also deal with the STARMER RAPE GANG problem. Since Starmer was head of the CPS and is from the party that covered up thousands upon thousands of rapes it seems perfectly reasonable to name them after him if you want to go down that road. How's the national inquiry that Starmer didn't want to happen and then u-turned and said it would happen? Has he forgotten or is he a bit worried he and his party will be heavily implicated in the cover up so is hoping people will forget about it? On the bright side though now that the UK is out of the EU it is no longer a net recipient of extra illegal immigrants received when part of the Dublin agreement. The UK would have even higher numbers if still in the EU.

My mistake, I wrongly presumed you would know what hearsay was. I forget that English is not your first language so not your fault. Let me give you the definition: "information received from other people that one cannot adequately substantiate; rumor" The "letter" you refer to was a second hand account of an alleged event. Hence the term hearsay. This completes your English lesson for today. You are welcome.

Is there really so little evidence that Farage is a racist or fascist that you need to go back to 1981 to provide hearsay to confirm this? We have evidence that David Lammy is a thick and we only need to go back one day. This is the same guy who called the Vatican racist for using white smoke to signal a new pope has been selected. I'd sit this one out if I was you.

Well in that case then there will be hardly anyone for Farage to deport will there? So on that basis, why complain about it? Or do you have no confidence in your own statement and recognize it for the lie that it is?