My Paradice Lost

22 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

You would need to visit immigration soon after arrival - request to change to non immigrant O visa entry using proof of that 800k in bank account (needs to be foreign source) and during the 90 days that visa allows extend for one year for retirement (2 steps - 2,000 and 1,900 baht fees).  You would also want to obtain re-entry permit to allow return to UK and return here when you want during the one year extension.

Thank you very much Lopburi.  I think I most probably go that course.

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

It has never been required for retirement from a non immigrant O visa entry.  Only if you are pre-approved for one year stay getting a non immigrant O-A visa, or the new long term visas is that required.

 

Are you saying you only want to stay a total of 4 months or only 4 months this trip?

Thanks for your reply.

We live in UK, but as I said, we have a home in Chiang Rai where we usually visit for one month two or three times a year.  However, on this occassion, for family reasons, we want to stay for just over four months.  Hence my dilema of finding the best way to extend my 30 days visa waive.  I was under the impression that health insurance was mandetory for retirement extension but not for marriage extension.  If not required, I will probably go for retirement as I already have Bht 800k funds available in Thailand.

OJAS entry.

https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

I don't see any mention of medical insurance.  Is this still mandentory for retirement extension?

In two weeks I will be arriving in Suvanabumi with my Thai wife and will apply fo 30 day visa waive.  My return ticket is for 126 days from entry so, obviously, I will need to get a visa change or extension from my local immigration office in Chiang Rai. 

In order to avoid very costly and time consuming air border hops, I feel that the best way would possibly be to apply for a marriage extension.   We have a home in Chiang Rai and I have more than enough money in my Thai bank account. At 84 years, I am too old to get medical insurance.

I'm aware of the complicated process of a marriage extension, but if anyone can give a more viable way for me to be able to stay in Thailand for just over four months, I will be highly apppreciative.

As a bye, last Chistmas time we flew London to Bangkok with Thai Air and again in July with Qatar Air.  Both tickets, bought through cheap agancies, were ECONOMY LIGHT and both stated that check in luggage is not included.  Nevertheless, on both ocassions. we turned up at Heathrow with around 25kg suitcases for each of us plus hand luggage, two for my wife and two for me.  We were checked in for both flights with no problems or addition charges whatsoever

I've been seeking online for tickets for nonstop London to Bangkok.  I found a few at very competitive prices with EVA Air being adverised by unknown agencies around London.  Typically, one advertised that price does not include seat alocation and most that seat charged at extra in accordance with their term and conditions. 

I have always been under the impression that EVA does not charge for seat selection, so I called EVA directly to confirm.  I was catagorically assured by EVA very helpfull operator that EVA - DO NOT - charge for seat selection and warned by her that the agencies offering the highly discounted prices charge for seat selection together with other spurious charges in order to boost their income to make up for the loss they would otherwise make on selling the cheap tickets.  I have, subsequently, just bought tickets from a London Thai run agency at around £200 cheaper than buying direct from EVA and there is No seating charge.  So,  beware of the scammers charging for seats.  However, if your still able to buy a cheap ticket without paying them for the seating, by all means do so and on receipt of your ticket, log into your official EVA booking and make your seat selection directly with  EVA.

I'd like to have full medical insurance but, despite being fitter than most in my age bracket, being over 80 such insurance is virtually impossible to obtain. 

I do, however, have travel insurance and found, when checking around, that most companies charge much higher rates when including travel to the USA, Canada, Australia and most surprisingly, Thailand.

"Save The Frogs asked - do ashes actually fertilize anything? 

Well, my aged ex died three months ago and I thought it would be nice to bury her cremated ashes beneath a nice pink magnolia tree planted in our daughters paddok adjacent to her house.  I bought the young tree and fully researched about what ferilisers should also be added.  I discovered that and can categorically state,  human ashes have a very high salt content and as such, are totally unsuitable for use as a fertiliser and will, in fact probably kill any plant that they are scattered over or under.  In short, scatter the ashes some other way.

During my research, I also learned of a new method of cremation recently arrived from America where the new method is now used quite extensively.  It's called a water cremation whereby they put the body in a degradable bag and subject it to very high pressure.  After six hours, the end result is just clean water which is disposed of in the public drainage system and the bones which are finely ground and passed to the relatives.  Personally, I think this may be the best way to go.

I'm currently in the UK with my Thai wife and  returning to our home in Chaing Rai later this month.  I want to apply for a yearly visa extension and want to go the retirement rather than marriage route..  My problem is that whereas Bt800,000 in the bank is no problem, I understand that for retirement extension, a medical insurance is now a requirement. At 84 year old, such insurance is almost find or extortionaly expensive.  An online quote I received was well in excess of £10,000p.a.

Does anybody know if there are there any visa agents in Chiang Rai that can "overcome" this problem with Chiang Rai immigration

My wife and if have built a sizable villa in her village several kilometers outside Chiang Rai town and on a half rai of land she owned before we met.  Obviously, I paid for all build costs and clearly understand about matrimonial assets the villa legal ownership etc. and that's not a problem for me.  Although the main accomodation is fully furnished and livable, there is a large half basement previously unused,  but now under construction for conversion for self contained living.  

My wife and I are considering moving into the basement and renting out the main accomodation for Airbnb self contained, all found, family homestay with accompanied sight seeing trips.  My question here is: As the entire villa is our normal residence, would it be legal for me to continue to work in completing the basement conversation, do gardening and house maintenance and to assist my wife in servicing the guests with cooking, didying, cleaning etc. and accompanying  guests on guided sight seeing tours etc.

Sensible answers and suggestions would be appreciated as I don't really want to enquire at immigration with the risk of stiring up a hornet's nest.

Before I get all the well intended advice, please note that I'm a golden oldy, married to a Thai and have a house in Chiang Rai but currently living in the UK.  I've have been 20 years in and around Thailand, so, I'm well familiar with most legalities and problems of Farang ownership and usufructs etc. 

A few years ago, we signed a contract for joint ownership of a condo under Thai quote in Pretumnak and paid a substantial deposit plus stage payments. The developer was unable to fulfil the contract and it took me 3 years all the way up to the Supreem Court to recover my money. So, any advice on which developers or agents to avoid would be appreciated.

For some time now, I've been looking for a further house or condo to buy, probably in (but not restricted to) Chon Buri or Chiang Rai.  I've spent a great deal of time online, but can only find agent selling what are, generally, grossly overpriced properties. The few possibilities I've enquired about have all turned out to be "no longer available".  ????????????.

I have searched for properties being sold privately, but cannot find any advertised anywhere online.  Can anybody please point me in the right direction?

Before I get all the well intended advice, please note that I'm a golden oldy, married to a Thai and have a house in Chiang Rai but currently living in the UK.  I've have been 20 years in and around Thailand, so, I'm well familiar with most legalities and problems of Farang ownership and usufructs etc. 

A few years ago, we signed a contract for joint ownership of a condo under Thai quote in Pretumnak and paid a substantial deposit plus stage payments. The developer was unable to fulfil the contract and it took me 3 years all the way up to the Supreem Court to recover my money. So, any advice on which developers or agents to avoid would be appreciated.

For some time now, I've been looking for a further house or condo to buy, probably in (but not restricted to) Chon Buri or Chiang Rai.  I've spent a great deal of time online, but can only find agent selling what are, generally, grossly overpriced properties. The few possibilities I've enquired about have all turned out to be "no longer available".  ????????????.

I have searched for properties being sold privately, but cannot find any advertised anywhere online.  Can anybody please point me in the right direction?

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

I have paid $840 round trip to Los Angeles twice already this year. You can get bargains. 

 

However, the projections and the numbers being quoted are entirely fake, no doubt. 

Oh yes! I agree that there are much cheaper airlines than Thai  Air.  But who, in their right mind, wants to travel for up to 48 hours on grotty third world airlines with 2 or 3 stops.  Also, unfortunately, my "one who shall be obeyed" will not permit.

Invest in Nigeria.  There's still many highly reputable businessmen including, among others, bank managers, governmental senior officials and many, many princes that are seeking partners to assist them in international transactions often involving several millions of dollars and all offering very generous remuneration just for using your bank account.

22 hours ago, internationalism said:

there are adoption groups and pages on fb.

Run also in english and by foreigners.

First pet goes to foster parents and then to adopters.

If you fail to find place for him, I will take it

 

I built my wife a villa on her 0.5 rai land about 20km S.E. of Chiang Rai.  We have a male dog which is fed daily be the wife's sister who lives a short distance away.  While back in the UK, where we live full time, the wife's sister thought it prudent to bring in a year old bitch to keep our dog company.  Needless to say, 6 months later, our dog was daddy to 9 puppies.  Once weaned, we asked sister to find homes for the puppies and in the mean time, I arranged for the bitch and four female puppies to be spayed.  The dogs all have the run of the garden and  are never allowed outside.  Sister managed to find homes for 7 of the puppies with two going to one individual who, just two weeks after taking the first two, came back for 2 more.  Sister did not like the guy who she considered was wanting them for dinner, so she refused.  We now have our dog, the bitch and two remaining  female spayed puppies, now three and half years old.  Unfortunately, due to family problems, taking care of four dogs has become a liability and I've been seeking for a dog rescue in or around Chiang Rai to possibly take the young females, but without success.

They are very pretty and nice natured dogs and we refuse to consider the possibility of having them destroyed.  If anybody can possibly help or has any suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.

I've been loking for flights from the UK recently and Air Fance and KLM among others are adverising low prices, until you come to book and discover all the add-ons. These include checkin baggage of only 20kg, seat allocation, online checkin etc., all very expensive and priced per leg, so I just pass. Emerates, not particularly cheap, but have 30kg baggage allowance and a comfortable break in Dubai of about 2 hours. 15 Years ago, Thai Air was a great airline.  However, we flew to Thailand for three weeks and returned 2 weeks ago and apart from being very expensive at around £1300 each for the lowest class, the flight and service was appauling with indifferent attendants to the point of rudeness. Being stuck at the rear, the engine noise was such that it was impossible to watch a movie.  It's not difficult to find reasonable prices using on line booking site such as Kayak until you look more closely and inevitably find huge 30 hour + travel times.  This includes Singapore Air which is a great airline, but have 15-20 hours stopover in Changi with a note that any expenditure for hotels, food etc is at your expense.

  The UK NHS vaccination code has very limited time before expiry and it can only be read by a dedicated reader.

I had applied for both my Thai wife and myself, but my wife's application was rejected and we had to re-apply whereas my application was passed. Since re-applying for my wife's pass, it's been 8 days and nothing and we are running out of time.  Tried calling he help line and just got recorded message in Thai. Tried sending email and got message "address un-recognised.                

For what it's worth, I received my Thai pass yesterday using NY City hotel which cost Bht 3600 for one person, but we paid Bht6,600 for me and my Thai wife and the confirmation covers all requirements . We booked through a helpful local English speaking agent.  Email is [email protected]

Thank you for that.  Puts my mind at rest.

I'm traveling to Thailand on March 29th for three weeks and in process of applying for a Thai Pass.  Can anybody please advise if I can still enter on the old 30 day visa waiver, or do I need to apply for a visitor visa?

BANGKOK - TEST & GO SCHEME FOR FULLY VACCINATED TRAVELLERS

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

- The Test & Go scheme reopened to new applications on 1 February 2022 (at 9am Thai time).
- Travellers must arrive by air on a direct flight.
- Travellers aged 18 or over from the UK and Ireland must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for more than 14 days.
- Travellers under the age of 18 must follow the guidelines under the Vaccination and Pre-Testing Requirements section below.
- Travellers recovered from COVID-19, must follow the guidelines under the Vaccination and Pre-Testing Requirements section below.
- Travellers must undergo a RT-PCR test on arrival in Thailand (if negative, travellers are free to travel anywhere in Thailand), and a self-administered antigen (lateral flow) test on Day 5 of their stay. For the Day 1 accommodation travellers need to stay at any SHA Extra Plus hotel that is within a 5-hour drive of the international airport they arrive at in Thailand.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED

Every traveller must register for a travel certificate through the Thailand Pass between 60 and 7 days before departure. Once fully registered in the system, travellers will receive a Thailand Pass QR code to present at check-in and at immigration.

Documents required to apply for the Thailand Pass:
- Passport with appropriate validity.
- A valid visa (if required).
- A certificate of full vaccination against COVID-19 for more than 14 days.
- Medical insurance policy with a minimum coverage of $20,000 (USD) and covering COVID-19 (Thais and foreign expatriates under Thailand’s national healthcare coverage are exempt from this requirement).
- Confirmation of bookings in SHA Extra+ hotels for day 1 (includes the first RT-PCR and airport transfer).
Documents required at check-in:
1. Passport with appropriate validity

2. Valid visa or re-entry permit (if required)
3. Thailand Pass QR Code (it is strongly advisable to carry a printed copy of this)
4. Printed medical certificate with an RT-PCR lab result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected, issued within 72 hours before departure
5. Printed recovery certificate, if applicable (please see section below for more details)

VACCINATION AND PRE-DEPARTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS

Travellers aged 18 or over must:
- Be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for more than 14 days, with a vaccine approved by the MoPH or the WHO.
- Present a COVID-19 test with a laboratory result indicating that COVID -19 is not detected (COVID test must be by RT-PCR method), issued within 72 hours before departure.

9 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The fit to fly certificate has not been required for almost a year now.  A T-8 is also not required.

Ubonjoe,

I am flying by Thai Airways from London to Bangkok on 29th March, but due to the previous weekend, I'm having a serious problem in finding an 72 hour RT-PCR test to match my departure time.  I've just checked Thai Air website update on 28th February and it clearly states as shown on quote below.  This contracts your advice above that PCR test is no longer necessary.  Could you please confirm. 

VACCINATION AND PRE-DEPARTURE TESTING REQUIREMENTS

Documents required at check-in:
1. Passport with appropriate validity
2. Valid visa or re-entry permit (if required)
3. Thailand Pass QR Code (it is strongly advisable to carry a printed copy of this)
4. Printed medical certificate with an RT-PCR lab result indicating that COVID-19 is not detected, issued within 72 hours before departure
5. Printed recovery certificate, if applicable (please see section below for more details)-

Quote

Present a COVID-19 test with a laboratory result indicating that COVID -19 is not detected (COVID test must be by RT-PCR method), issued within 72 hours before departure.

I'm in the UK with my Thai wife who is keen to return to Thailand a.s.a.p.  Having read this article I have just down loaded the Thailandplus app to my Thailand purchased Vivo smart phone.  I've tried to open the app in order to see how it works, but when I click on the app, it flashes red for a second, then nothing.  Can anybody tell me?  Does this mean that the app will only work in Thailand or is there something wrong?