asiacurious

Yeah, seems so. I was hoping for clarification and all I got was cacophony.

Now you know of a case. It was 2000THB (or maybe 1900THB - some things are 1900, some are 2000). Anyway, the school prepared all paperwork with MoE and Immigration and met a group of students at Immigration for the initial visa application. For extensions, they prepared all the paperwork and students would go by themselves to Immigration. When you're a legitimate student who is legitimately studying at a legitimate school, there are no extras. Lots of pages of documents, but everything is on the up and up. In all the time we've been in Thailand, we have NEVER paid (nor been asked or expected to pay) any "extras". With the exception of what the school handled for the ED Visa, we've always dealt with Immigration on our own and we have never used an agent for anything. And maybe that's the difference. Things cost more through an agent because you're paying for their time, knowledge, employees, and overhead... not because the agent has to cover "extras" on a your behalf.

Quick update in case this will help someone.... There was no problem with Immigration at the airport when returning after leaving the country for 3 weeks. And no problem with MoE or Immigration with getting an extension on the visa after returning. Just needed to have the re-entry permit in place before leaving and everything was completely normal.

Classes, books, Visa, and Extensions all came to about 80K. Good experience at the school, though the school doesn't offer the greatest advice or guidance on issues (like this) or re-entry permits (for example, they advice students not to leave the country for more than 1 week while on an ED Visa or Immigration may not let you back in, which is total nonsense. As long as you have a re-entry permit and return before your visa/extension expires, you can go for several weeks without any problem.)

I think you're correct if you want to continue studying the same language. At least that's what both schools have said. Study more of the same requires shifting from a private language school to a more advanced university program. But shifting to another language (or another subject entirely, like Muay Thai) at a different private school, does away with that need.

Ugh. So tired of the "know who to pay" nonsense. First, reputable schools don't need to "know who to pay". And there isn't a need for that when you're a legit school offering a legit program with legit students taking it. No "come to class if you want" program from the schools I'm talking about. You come, or they refuse to extend your visa. Plus, there's no "extra" money hidden in the cost of the course they are charging to pay someone anyway. Lastly, the whole in country conversion thing just started several months into Covid. Prior to Covid, the only way to get a new ED visa was outside the country. What's more, in-country ED Visas were the only way to get them until the country started to re-open in earnest, which was October 2021 at the earliest, but more realistically not until May 2022. So really, less than a year. So very few people have even been able to get a back to back ED Visa since before the pandemic, when the only way to do that was outside of the country. So.... I guess I should have specified that I wasn't looking for mere opinions. I probably should have been more clear and asked for responses from people who have actual knowledge or experience.

My gf has an ED Visa (studying Thai) for almost a year and wants to get another ED Visa. We are getting conflicting information from different language schools. This is what we've been told that we don't have any issue with (but please let me know if any of these first three are wrong): 1 - New ED Visa must be for study at a different school. (Both schools say this.) 2 - Must change language being studied. (Both schools say this.) 3 - Must get ED Visa Cancellation Letter from current school within 7 days of leaving, take to CW, then exit Thailand. (Current school says this.) This is what isn't making sense to us: 4 - Must leave Thailand and come back on a 60 day Tourist Visa. (New School says this.) 5 - Can NOT get ED Visa at Embassy outside of Thailand. (New School says this.) 6 - Must convert Tourist Visa to ED Visa once in Thailand. (New School says this.) I've checked with two Embassies outside of Thailand and they both say that they are currently processing ED Visas, contrary to what the new language school says (in 4, 5, and 6 above). I understand that you have to leave Thailand to formally end the ED Visa. Why must you get a Tourist Visa to come back to Thailand to convert the tourist Visa to an ED Visa in country, if Thai Embassies in other countries are currently processing ED Visas? (Remember that in-country conversions are a relatively new thing that only started during Covid.) Is there something I am missing? Do embassies NOT give ED Visas to someone who just had an ED Visa? Or something else? Thank you!

Ok, so this is different from what I've been told from another school I checked with, that says it's 7 days during the first 8 months of study, and 15 days after that. When asked where this policy comes from, they said the Ministry of Education. They also said there won't be a problem actually getting back into Thailand if one does go beyond these 7 or 15 day limits, but the problem will come from the Ministry of Education which won't approve of future visa extensions if you go beyond the limits. Of course this begs the question, how does the MoE even know if you've gone beyond those 7 or 15 day limits since Immigration (and not the MoE) actually processes the extensions? Finally, schools say there is no issue with getting an extension if you stay in Thailand and choose NOT to take classes for 3 weeks (or 6 or 7 weeks for that matter). Only if you leave Thailand for more than 7 (or 15) days is there a problem.

Thank you.

I have a couple of questions on leaving and returning to Thailand while on an ED Visa for studying Thai (at a private language school, not an ED Visa issued through an accredited University program). Here's what (I think) I understand: Must get a re-entry permit BEFORE leaving The ED Visa does NOT pause while out of the country, so there must be enough time on the visa (or extension) so that re-entry to Thailand occurs BEFORE the visa (or extension) expires Here are my questions: How long can a person be out of the country while on an ED Visa? (Obviously they must get back to Thailand BEFORE the ED Visa/extension expiration date.) Are there any known issues with Suvarnabhumi Airport Immigration when re-entering the country? A fairly well known school is telling students they can only leave Thailand for a maximum of 7 days or they will have problems re-entering Thailand. Some school websites (including this particular school's site) do not mention any problems. They only indicate the need for a re-entry permit and valid ED Visa/extension with time left before expiration. Is this school correct? Or is it FUD? Experiences and advice appreciated. And if anyone has any links or documentation from authoritative sources (such as written policies issued by the MoE or Thai Immigration) that would be especially helpful. Thank you!

LED all the way. My suggestion is the first thing to decide is if you want a warm feeling (like old style incandescent bulbs), or a cool feeling (like daylight). Probably best thing to do is just go buy 1 screw in bulb at 2700-3000 Kelvin (that's the color temperature) and a second screw in bulb at 5500-6500 Kelvin. The lower the K number the warmer the light. Then get two light fixtures and screw the bulbs in and look at the light during the daytime, then again at night. Most people prefer the warmer color from 2700-3000 Kelvin bulbs. Everything else is secondary to color temperature. After you know the color temperature you can worry about what style of light you want (ceiling mount, wall mount, free-standing floor light, table lamp....) Same for how much light a bulb gives off (which is measured in lumens). You can get a higher wattage bulbs that are dimmable and put wall or ceiling fixtures on dimmer switches to control the light output. And for floor or table lamps you can similarly get them with or without dimmer switches (or add them via a plug in adapter). But my suggestion is to start with the color of the light that you want, then take it from there.

Sounds about right. Also, it seems like the higher priced a la carte items in Thailand are to get people to buy the more expensive value meals. In the US, the cheaper "dollar menu" items are to get people in the door who would otherwise not be able to afford the "value meals". Many Thais who order value meals never seem to finish what they've ordered and leave a lot of food behind on the tray, and the table. Too often it looks like like a bomb exploded in the middle of their food.

Not anymore. Was home last April and saw this on a menu board. And that was BEFORE all the big price increases that have apparently happened over the summer....

I heard he died.