HexTree

Just now, The Hammer2021 said:

'at a shop' not 'in a shop'

At no point did I say the phrase 'in a shop'.

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

No the article does not say that he was drinking "in the shop"!  Read the article. 

"it was stated that the man approached a group of Thais and the foreigner drinking at a shop in Phraeksa Soi 10, Muang Samut Prakan, south east of the Thai capital Bangkok."

Don't know what else to tell you. These are the details that were present in the discussion. If there is a better source out there which disputes that, so be it, but we were just going off the information stated.

55 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

So never for shops, which is what is being discussed here. 

Shops can't 'serve' alcohol either. They can 'sell' it, but if you read the article the foreigner was drinking with friends in the premises of the shop.

21 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

When was the ban on shops serving alcohol to their customers introduced?

Since around 8 months for restaurants and bars.

9 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That may have made sense if it was true.  There's never been a ban on buying alcohol in shops, nor drinking alcohol. 

He did say "served".

You have to get your regular 30 day extension first. After that extension, you are eligible to apply for Covid extension.

Never even heard of this phuget thing, didn't see it mentioned anywhere other than here. But I flew BKK to HKT on 19th (Bangkok Airways) and it was not addressed at any point in the journey.

I went on Nov 19th. Bangkok Airways asked to see either vaccination certificate, or test result, when boarding at the gate. It was pretty clear it was one OR the other, not both (and I presented only the test). Upon arriving in Phuket, nothing was needed, just went straight to luggage and taxi.

For flying to Bangkok there are no requirements whatsoever.

Is the app actually needed for anything once you are already in the country? On the few occasions I was ever asked for it at airports (which was months ago), I  showed them my old Nokia, and they just shrugged and let me through.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Which embassy is providing letter.

Some will confirm that they are not providing letter via email.

I doubt Oz embassy would even do that.

In any event why make simple difficult.

I'm not 'making simple difficult', I'm just answering the questions on the form honestly. As I understand, you don't have to have ticked all of them to qualify; box 1 and box 4 have always been the relevant and correct ones for me.

1 hour ago, London Lowf said:

A few evenings ago a group of "officials" with clipboards and a police escort were going from bar to bar checking up on stuff but not seemingly causing much stress to the bars - except Sea Dragon bar which was completely devoid of the usual "hostesses" and consequently punters, so maybe they had things to hide? On Monday night they were back to normal.

That's the one at the front, with dragons and Chinese lanterns? Yesterday (Tuesday) it was completely closed, whilst all the neighbouring bars were open.

1 hour ago, jackdd said:

If you can get an embassy letter you wouldn't need the the Covid extension.

A 30 day extension upon request by an embassy has been an option since way before Covid.

Obviously getting the 60 day Covid extension is more convenient than the 30 day embassy letter extension.

If that's true, I still wouldn't tick the box 2 myself, since it's probably technically false if I *can* get the embassy letter, but would rather have the more convenient 60 day extension.

1) is still valid to tick because the pandemic is still going, which is the second clause of the OR in that sentence.

I also tick 4) and explain that it is regarded as unsafe to be travelling right now, and that my home country is also unsafe.

There was one occasion in Samui where I saw applicants being turned away at the desk because they hadn't put enough reasons in the box. The solution seemed to be just to write enough wordy sentences so that the officers didn't really understand what you've written.

I tried download an Android emulator so that I could use the Immigration App, and it gave me the overstay bug. So yes, as ubonjoe mentions, that's likely the same reason for the website issue, even though I did my last report in person. Just have to file it in person.

16 hours ago, Forza2002 said:

Is online 90 day reporting currently working okay? I have done online (windows 10, Brave browser) without issue many times before but this morning am getting the message below. Has the link changed or been updated? Used https://extranet.immigration.go.th/fn90online/online/tm47/TM47Action.do

Same issue for me. Have tried various browsers, the past couple of days, always the same problem.

90 days report technically applies to all foreigners, including tourist and exempts, but before COVID naturally it was a moot requirement since they aren't staying long, so they didn't bother asking for it. Since COVID they have started putting people on the report cycle if they are applying for the COVID extension, regardless of visa type. Depends on the office.

When I extended in Chiang Mai in January, they put me (Visa exempt) on the 90 days report, so I've had to file it regularly ever since. The same is the case here in Koh Phangan. I checked with the officers, but they confirmed that once you've been formerly asked to do it (which it appears you have), then you have to continue filing 90 days reports.

Have made COVID extensions in Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, and can confirm it was 60 days from the expiry of the current visa. Also, no 'under consideration' stamp, I received the full extension immediately.

2 hours ago, alw22 said:

What do you suppose is meant by the 90 day report?  That wasn't mentioned to me.  But I do see it mentioned in my passport as part of the stamp.  But it was also part of my last 2 stamps.  Does simply applying for the 60 day covid extension cover us for the 90 day notification?

In theory, everyone who stays longer than 90 days is supposed to file 90-day reports, which is a separate process from extensions (and applying for an extension does not count as a 90-day report). In practice, those of us on short-term visas are not normally asked to do them. What you are seeing in the stamp is just reiterating the rule I think.

If, after some number of extensions, they one day give you a specific date for your 90-day report, then from that point on it seems they've put you 'on the cycle' and you have to do them indefinitely from then on. This happened to me earlier in the year in Chiang Mai.

My understanding was that everyone in Koh Phangan was being put on the cycle regardless of their circumstances. I saw many tourists confused by this, but the offices reiterated that they have to do the report.

In your case I've no idea, but you had best go back and ask them. If they've put you on the cycle and failed to convey that to you, then they'll be expecting you to file it by the deadline.
 

Went today for a 60 day COVID visa extension. Pretty straightforward, was completed in 15 min after handing in all the documents. Officers were helpful and spoke good English. Notification of Residence slip wasn't asked for. Extension expiry was updated to be 60 days after previous expiry, not 60 days after today's date.

Everyone getting the extension was asked to file a 90-day report next, after getting their passport back.

I came on visa exemption, then stayed on COVID extensions for over a year. For about 10 months I hadn't needed to do a 90 day report, but then after procuring another COVID extension at Chiang Mai they arbitrarily gave me a follow-up 90-day report date. I asked the volunteer about it, and he said that all visa types need to do it, in theory, but now that they've explicitly asked me I'm apparently on the cycle.

Can confirm I got my COVID extension in Samui in a couple of hours. No TM30 check, no under consideration stamp.

9 hours ago, audaciousnomad said:

I read in a FB group that Samui had done some without having to make a 2nd trip back.

Can confirm, I went on Thursday for a COIVD visa. Whole thing was finalised within a couple of hours, no under consideration stamp. Furthermore, no TM30 required, and they timed the 60 days to start from the expiration of my visa, not from the day I visited the office.

12 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

Don't just write 'covid' as I suppose it's a little bit disrespectful really. Just put it in a full sentence like 'the covid-19 pandemic is still severe in my home country'.

It can go either way I guess. In the first rounds at Bangkok I was seeing people do that, and officers were telling them to cross it all out and literally write the word 'COVID'. And on the other hand, nowadays I've seen the example sheet they have in some offices still has the word 'COVID', despite officers there telling people to cross out COVID and put something more substantial. There really is no knowing, haha.

 

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I have experience of 2 immigration offices recently and for both you don't need to bring any document for your TM30 as they checked on their computer and they could see the TM30 report in their system.

I had similar experiences (though Chiang Mai required to bring a 'receipt of notification' for the TM30 from a nearby office). However now that the TM30 online system is down, I expect one of two things, which may differ between offices: (a) They relax the TM30 checks (b) They require you to bring the paper TM30 forms from your landlord.