sabaiguy

On 6/1/2024 at 12:54 AM, MrPhysio said:

The above is a quick response from me

Quick response?  Hate to see a long one.

14 hours ago, Tomio said:

Took me around six weeks from start to finish. Would have been quicker if I did it all while in Thailand. Instead I had to complete everything with Thai Consulate Los Angeles, who aren't the easiest to work with. I went the self insured route where you must show twelve months of bank balances above $100000. This is where they try to screw you up. They actually require $200000 each month

Explain.  I almost went the $100,000 route but decided to go with local Thai insurer (probably overpaying) recommended by BOI.  Thinking it might be easier for BOI to understand.  Don't know if that helped.  Approved in 3 weeks.  I also bypassed the LA Consulate.  Besides being a little more expensive (not a big issue) I had read it was a little bit of a hassle as they are not very familiar with the relatively new LTR.    Flew to Thailand and did at Chamchuri.  Glad I did.

On 5/23/2024 at 7:41 PM, McTavish said:

Methinks ChatGPT has erred 🤣

Moved them from Chiang Rai to Koh Chang and then back to Chiang Rai?

9 hours ago, MrBanks said:

Hi, does anybody have recent information on how long the process is taking to get a decision on an application for the LTR visa.

In the past I have applied for various visas and never used an agent before, but this time, due to being busy, I decided to go with one and he is telling me that I am hearing nothing, due to a huge back log at BOI, caused by too many applications.

I am beginning to sniff bull manure, so any up to date information will be appreciated?

Depends.  By the way I think an agent is a waste of time and money for LTR visa.  They can't help you meet the requirements.  Maybe just hold your hand through the process.  Not like they can put money in a bank account like they do for non-imm o's.  By the way what does an agent charge for getting you the LTR visa?

17 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

The face of Thailand is going to change with these visa changes. 

 

Go look on Indian forum immigration pages. You have people already preparing to move here for a long time, and looking to come here to work. 

 

The sheer vast numbers is going to be ridiculous. 

 

Especially during the peak season when most tourists venture here - can you imagine the numbers now? 

 

Enviromentally a disaster for some of Thailand's most natural beauties. 

 

Quality tourism over Quantity was the reset mantra during covid they wanted. Thrown out the window. 

Isn't that what they want?. Quantity.   Hard to quantify quality,  easy for quantity . Is that understandable?  Bottom line TAT loves those statistics..

On 5/31/2024 at 6:52 PM, george said:

Even wikipedia has the 60 day change

Thought I read  Russians got 90 days previously, if I remember correctly.  Maybe they reduced it after recent events in Phuket.

13 hours ago, Presnock said:

well once you get the new passport you will have to have all the stamps transferred from your old one.

Gotcha.  Still has nothing to do with renewing a US passport.

11 hours ago, connda said:

His immigration officer is being a jerk.  As we often read on the Thai Immigration threads, individual offices and individual IOs can deliberately try to make your life difficult for no other reason then to be malicious, i.e., there is nothing in the police orders requiring something like this, but they make up their own rules.  It's just them being petty and spiteful because they don't like foreigners so the go out of their way to make life difficult. 

Thank goodness the majority of immigration offices are not like this.

Thought this thread was about renewal of US Passport.  Thai Immigration has absolutely nothing to do with renewal of US passport in Thailand.

11 hours ago, connda said:

They don't.  They have no inside track to the US Embassy and can not "expedite" a passport renewal.

Thanks for clearing that up.

9 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Thailand could try some innovation and develop a Knotts Berry Farm style theme park. https://www.visitanaheim.org

I'm from SoCal so know what you're referring to.  But to others they're going to say Knotts Berry Farm?  How does a berry farm relate to amusement parks.

12 hours ago, thairookie said:

 

This scam model could not have worked without the involvement of a lawyer qualified by Lawyer's Council of Thailand. 

 

The foreigners sought the advice of lawyers, and it was the lawyers who advised them on the status of law and gave the go-ahead.  The foreigners relied solely on the legal advice of such lawyers who were supposed to provide correct legal advice and regulated by Lawyer's Council of Thailand.

 

The witch hunting mustn't stop just at the foreigners.  The Thai nominees were willing participants in the scam, the lawyers were directing the scam, and the foreigners relied on the Lawyer's Council of Thailand to regulate the conduct of the lawyers.  The lawyers didn't just breach their professional conduct, they were aiding and abetting the foreigners to scam the Government, and they were emboldened by the silence of the Lawyer's Council of Thailand, as silence could be construed as tacit permission.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All absolutely true.  But why would you expect Thai lawyers to have higher ethical standards than any other Thai 

13 hours ago, Kinok Farang said:

Then we can start on the Yanks.

I'd say maybe put the Brits slightly ahead of the Yanks.  A Yank

On 5/28/2024 at 11:32 PM, Presnock said:

I too did my new one in November last year but I did the transfers myself, IO also wanted a "new" tm.30 and did the 90-day report on that date too, besides the transfers (1hour) the TM.30 and 90-day at CM took less than 10 minutes.  never have used an agent, I retired 20 years ago and never had any problems though it used to take a long time but now things are much better in CM than they used to be in my opinion.

TM30, 90-day report. IO, to renew US passport?  What am I missing?

On 5/28/2024 at 11:19 PM, radiochaser said:

You can get a U.S. passport back in 2-3 weeks (reading from the comments) when applying for a renewal in Thailand????

This is what I find on the travel.state.gov website regarding processing times for a passport.   Note the "mailing times not included in processing times"!

Perhaps I should wait until I am in Thailand to renew my passport!

 

Current Processing Times (applied on or after December 18, 2023)

Routine	6 to 8 weeks
Expedited	2 to 3 weeks
Urgent	Must make an appointment and have international travel within 14 calendar days

About Our Processing Times

 

• Include the time your application is at one of our passport agencies or centers. 
• You may get your passport on a different date than your family member or friend.
• Mailing times are not included in processing times. Consider the total time it will take to receive your passport when you are booking travel. 
• It may take two weeks for your application to get to us, and two weeks for you to get your passport after we mail it. 

May be mistaken but I believe this is for renewal in the US.  

14 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

No, I don't need a personal letter from the Thai Minister of Finance... 😏 And, I don't think BOI will pay my 7MM baht tax bill. But, requesting confirmation in writing from the legitimate government taxing authority (the Thai Revenue Dept.) regarding the tax exempt status of monies remitted in the same year as derived, for a LTR-WP visa holder, is not an unreasonable request. In fact, it would be a very smart thing to do for someone remitting big monies. As you said, it's up to me... ☺️ Thank you.

I remitted $300,000 last month, same month as I received my LTR (maybe that's not considered a lot for you), I sleep easily at night.  Not worried about the Thai RD. 

6 hours ago, John Drake said:

 

I simply used Google Gemini to create it. But it took an argument first. Here was the conversation with Gemini: 

 

I've never even heard of Google Gemini.  Seems amazing.  Guess AI has arrived.  Actually Gemini was correct in their (his/her, ?) initial response.

3 hours ago, khunPer said:

Thanks for your explanation. It seems like you have been reopening an account. Opening a new account without a long stay-visa has been mentioned, to be difficult by now. It's especially a problem for those entering visa exempt or on a tourist visa that wish to apply for a non-immigrant visa domestically and therefore needs a Thai bank deposit. The common advice is to shop around between bank branches, as there can be difference in what they accept.

Actually when I went back to them I thought yes they would just reopen my old account.  In fact they opened a new account with new account number.  I had a Macro card that was also closed while I was away during Covid.  I went to them thinking they could just reopen it without much trouble. No.  They had to go through the whole process opening a completely new card.

2 hours ago, Liquorice said:

1 yellow house book = multiple COR's.

Good to know.  Thanks

11 hours ago, JohnnyBD said:

No, I don't need a personal letter from the Thai Minister of Finance... 😏 And, I don't think BOI will pay my 7MM baht tax bill. But, requesting confirmation in writing from the legitimate government taxing authority (the Thai Revenue Dept.) regarding the tax exempt status of monies remitted in the same year as derived, for a LTR-WP visa holder, is not an unreasonable request. In fact, it would be a very smart thing to do for someone remitting big monies. As you said, it's up to me... ☺️ Thank you.

Did you pay tax on that money in your home country that you plan to remit?  If so nothing to worry about.

Was just reading today that the Thai Minister of Justice is flying to Indonesia to "bring him back".  They just can't stop from patting themselves on the back and getting a photo op.

On 5/30/2024 at 5:01 AM, rgrdns said:

Smart cars with facial recognition technology are helping immigration Police 

It won't take long as soon as the Smart cars brigade is operating 🙂

 

Isn't that from about 10 years ago?  Did they ever catch any bad  visa felons?

On 5/30/2024 at 2:58 AM, MalcolmB said:

I have only just left there and moved here.

Believe me when I say the worst place for misbehaving Brits is in Great Britain itself.

Never ending.

 

The current group of 20-35 years olds are just a pack of posing, drunken, drugged out, entitled aggressive animals always looking for trouble while crying the victim.

And that is just the women.

 

While it is embarrassing for me for the constant incidents here and in just about every other country we travel to in numbers it still beats the hell of living amongst them 24/7. 
 

I am moving upcountry soon and am praying there are not any others up there who have jaded the locals.

Haven't run into a lot up here in Chiang Rai.  Check it out.

On 5/30/2024 at 12:28 AM, BritScot said:

In the UK you are innocent until convicted (thank god)! So his passport is his unless it can be shown he is a flight risk and even then it's almost impossible to prove. Let's remember before he is publicly hung drawn and quartered in the uk conspiracy to supply is not exactly crime of the century in the uk. A couple of years at most. We dont know the ins and outs of the accusations and how valid they are. 

It is common in the US for those given bail to surrender their passports.  After all you're not a flight risk till you flee. YankMike

On 5/30/2024 at 12:05 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

...and then what?   He's not wanted in Thailand, UK police have no jurisdiction here and, presumably, he entered legally...it's not rocket science.

Home free?

On 5/29/2024 at 11:26 PM, freeworld said:

If he is hiding in Thailand it will not be long before they catch him.

 

Don't know why people abscond like that, eventually circumstances will catch up with them.

 

Maybe he should have tried hiding in one of the following countries:

The United Kingdom does not have extradition treaties with a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, and Syria

Lebanon pretty nice back in the late 60's early 70's when I lived there.  Before the "troubles".