bryan45876

I just did this.

1) Get original marriage certificate from the US. No one really checks this and a copy might even be good enough.

2) Go to US consulate or embassy and sign an Affidavit that says you are married. Get a certified copy of your passport bio page as well.

3) Get the two documents above translated and certified by MFA. I paid a visa agent for this part.

3) Go to Ampur in Chiang Mai with the documents above and register your marriage. We received the Kor Ror 2.2 right then.

Feel free to PM with any questions. I just did all of this 2 weeks ago in Chiang Mai.

-Bryan

Here is a link to the Thai Embassy in Washington DC. It contains a good comprehensive list of the what's required for a non-Immigrant "O" visa.

https://thaiembdc.org/2020/06/22/foreignerswithnono/

It seems pretty straightforward and I think I understand everything they are asking for and the process. I'm working on pulling everything together. The only thing I am getting stuck on is the insurance letter. I have an insurance letter and coverage for COVID, but they won't customize the letter to specifically mention that. I might end up buying an alternative policy just to get the letter, but I am going to try applying with my generic letter first.

-Bryan

Has anyone with a US based insurance company been able to get a letter that says it covers COVID and at least $100k? Mine will give me a letter that says I have coverage, but so far they are saying they won't personalize with that information.

For our situation and wants, Varee looks like the best fit. Our kids currently speak very little Thai, and our main goal is to improve their Thai. Varee has 3 programs - Thai, EP, and International. We landed on the EP program because hopefully it won't be too much of a shock to them to go from American schools to Thai schools. I think around 50% of the classes are taught in English.

Varee has a very nice campus and security / safety seems pretty decent. We were impressed with the administration and they spent a lot of time talking with us about the pros/cons of the different types of education available in Chiang Mai and about Varee's approach. The teachers we talked to were very friendly, open, and let us observe a class for a little while as well. They had a very well organized area for kids aged 3-5 as well which is something we were looking for.

We didn't really evaluate the school from a perspective of where students end up after Varee as we plan to have our kids back in the US for high school, but Varee seems to have a decent reputation. We are after having our kids learn Thai and the mixed language of the EP program is what we found to be the best. With that as our goal, we ended up ruling out most of the full blown "International" programs. There are also various facebook groups where you can find parents of current students there to talk to as well.

We went on a trip last summer and visited a ton of primary schools:

• Chiang Mai International, Varee, ABS, Unity Concord, American Pacific International, Lanna, Chiang Mai Montessori, Sangtit Rangsit

If you want to know more about any of them or our impressions let me know. We too want the Thai system and decided on Varee. We haven’t moved there yet, but plan too later this year if/when things return to normal. Ideally in time for the next semester to start in October. If we stayed long term we would probably switch to Chiang Mai International as we know the American system, but at first we want our kids to have more of a Thai immersion experience.

Thanks for the thoughts. We are only going to spend a month there and are trying to maximize the amount of Thai they learn.

Good idea. Thanks!

Two kids, aged 3 and 6. They know a few words in Thai, but not much. They are fluent in English, spent their lives in USA so far. Would prefer morning (9-12) for teaching, but we are flexible. Pay is negotiable depending on qualifications of the person. Thanks.

Hello,

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find a Thai teacher that will come to our house in Lamphun and teach our kids Thai everyday for 3-4 hours? We are looking for someone for one month, starting July 15, and they must bring the materials.

Thanks,

Bryan

You might want to check out IAESTE (http://www.iaeste.org/). I had a paid internship in Thailand in 2005 through the IAESTE exchange program. Some people worked for large international companies, and some worked as assistants at various Universities.