Red Phoenix

When I moved to Thailand some 6 years, I was a Total Newbie w.r.t. Thai Immigration/Visa matters. And discovering that there was an Oracle on the Visa subForum of TVF (now AN) called UbonJoe was a true Godsend. As everyone confirms: Joe's knowledge of all Thai Immigration/Visa matters was encyclopedic and always accurate. And on top of that he always responded on Immigration queries that needed a Definitive Answer on the Forum, as well as on any PMs sent to him (did he ever sleep?). I am very very grateful to Joe for all the help he provided me, and it is the reason that I try to do something back when members are in need of Visa/Immigration advice. Needless to say, that my efforts do not even come to the ankles of the gentle Giant that UJ was. Rest in Peace Joe, and you will not be forgotten by the thousands of people that benefited from the knowledge that you so gracefully shared. ????

At most Imm Offices you can only apply for the 30-day extension of stay from 14 days before to last day of your VisaExempt acquired Permit to stay. No need to wait till final days to do it as the 30 days will be added to your Permit to stay expiry date.

Booking a cheap Hotel/Guesthouse for the night preceding your application at your local Imm Office for the 30-day extension, would be easier/cheaper than engaging an Agent. You do not even have to spend the night at the Hotel/Guesthouse, and might even get a huge discount when you clarify that you only need a copy of the TM-30 of you having booked a room there.

A helpful member clarified the issue.

In this thread there have been quite a number of posts about the idea of a conscious universe. In short it means that everything is interconnected and has a level of consciousness and that as a consequence there is no such thing as 'dead matter'. Many might find this an amusing but purely hypothethical idea, something to discuss at the bar. But it has some profound implications. Today I came across an article titled Is It Possible For A Heart Transplant To Change Your Personality? The incredible connection between transplant recipients and their donors https://nakedemperor.substack.com/p/is-it-possible-for-a-heart-transplant Of course there is nothing 'incredible' about this, but it is a logical consequence when you accept the idea of a conscious universe. The article outlines 9 cases where organ transplants resulted in changes in the personality of the recipients, with links to the donor of that organ. And it is based on a larger study already done in 1998 by doctors that were confronted with that phenomenon in their patients. In a similar vein: there is a reason that some people refuse blood-transfusions from anonymous donors.

Proof of onward travel is only needed when flying to Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa), and it is the airline that might check such onward travel ticket on boarding. However when flying to Thailand on a Visa - like your parents will do - such onward travel ticket is not needed. Note that when applying for the Tourist Visa at the Thai Embassy/Consulate that a return-ticket will be asked as part of the application.

Attached the Dec 27, 2021 Police order that repeals previous regulations addressing the Non Imm O-A required Health Insurance. The current regulation does not make the distinction anymore between In- and Out-patient minimum coverage, but instead imposes a 3.000.000 THB coverage (see #6). So the message that your Thai insurer did sent you is fully correct. = = = If you have no need for that Health-Insurance policy, and only subscribe to it in order to meet the Non Imm O-A requirements for your annual extension based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa, you have the following options: #1 - Switch to a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, subsequently followed by 1-year extensions of that Non Imm O Visa. The requirements for the 1-year extension are IDENTICAL with those for the Non Imm O-A extension, but they do not require any Health Insurance. Note: I have a comprehensive Guideline document outlining all the steps/options how to make such switch, and it is not difficult nor cumbersome. Send me a PM in case you want to receive that document. #2 - In case you are married to a Thai national or have Thai dependant children, you could consider applying for the 1-year extension of your Non Imm O-A Visa for that reason, and then no Health-Insurance will be required. But of course you would then need to meet the requirements for such extension application, which by the way are financially much lower than for a 'retirement' extension. 406244182_RTP-Order-No.654-2564-1RevisingClause2.22oforder327-2014.pdf

I agree that organized religions have hijacked the concept of God. But I do not dismiss them all, because organized religion can be useful as a stepping-stone towards a more spiritual experience of the world. And I actually prefer the worldview of a deeply religious person that takes 'God's word' in the Bible - or any Holy scripture - literal, over the beliefs of a materialistic atheist worshipping 'Science'. The main posters in this thread often had to 'fend off' the fanatics on both sides of that spectrum, and it has lead to some interesting discussions. But the fact that someone - irrespective of his beliefs or non-beliefs - had the inclination to make a post on this thread, already indicates some spiritual attraction.

SiSaKet and Buriram for starters. For sure there are other offices too, but I would need to look it up and it's actually of little relevance. The main point being that in some offices there IS a connection between your 90-day report schedule and your 1-year extension of stay application, and some offices also require a 90-day Bank Pass-book check linked to your 90-day report schedule. So I don't understand your Vendetta against posts that provide factual information about this. YOU might not be interested (but why are you reacting then), but it's useful info for members living or relocating to those provinces where the Imm Office has a different approach than the 'regular' one.

@KannikaP Yes, as Lacessit wrote, there are indeed quite a number of Imm Offices that require you visit them 90 days after the 1-year extension of your Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement for a Bank Pass-Book check. This to ensure that you kept the +800K on your personal Thai Bank-Account in the first 3 months, required to meet the conditions under which that 1-year Permit to stay has been granted to you. E.g. in my Imm office in SiSaKet it is required. In that office they also automatically renew your 90-day report when applying for an extension of your Non Imm O Visa, so the 90-day Pass-Book check is actually combined with the first 90-day report that you need to do. Because of that Bank balance check (you only need to show your same-day updated Bank Pass-book) you are of course not able to do that first 90-day report on-line or by mail.

Hi "Friendly" (?) Farang, Attached a snap-shot of the header of the Excel-sheet with the data that need to filled in when making use of the IO TM-30 website to file a TM-30 notification. Type of Visa needs to be filled in in column I.

@cubism001 - Are there any specific reasons why you want to do the border-bounce by flight to Vietnam and back? E.g. combining it with a short sightseeing/holiday over there, or having used up your land-border crossings already. Where are you located, as that will determine whether a land-border hop might not be quicker, cheaper and more convenient.

Ah, that explains it. They need to appear 'busy'...

Yes, several reports of people confirming that after a domestic trip that Chiang Mai Immigration required them to file a new TM-30 of them having returned to their Chiang Mai address. So CM is not following the official TM-30 regulations that clearly stipulate that this is not necessary. And they must have much time on their hands to handle all those unnecessary 'return to home-address TM-30s'. Luckily the large majority of Thai Imm Offices do not follow that annoying and nonsensical CM approach.

No, your Thai bank will NOT inform Immigration that one of their foreign customers has slipped under the required funds to meet the Funds-in-Bank condition for the Permit to stay. But be aware that the moment you breach the financial condition under which that Permit to stay has been provided to you, that that Permit to stay becomes invalid and that you are then on 'overstay'. But there is very little risk with that and unless Immigration would ask you to provide proof that you meet the financial conditions, nobody will find out. Note that by doing a border-run without a Re-Entry Permit you could get rid of your current Non Imm O based Permit to stay, and return VisaExempt which will provide you with a 30 day Permit to stay which can be extended with an additional 30 days. Doing so, there won't be any issue at all with liquidating your Thai Bank-account, which you probably want to do as you are planning to leave Thailand permanently, and it might prove difficult to transfer the funds to your UK account once you have left Thailand.

Imo it is not you, but your friend who is utterly confused. Most probably he made use of a 1-year Fixed Deposit account at SCB, and used that account to prove to Immigration that he met the financial requirements. He would have been able to withdraw funds from that account, but if the funds were not on the account for a full year, he would lose the interest that such Fixed Deposit account provides. Most probably the bank desk officer tried to explain that to him, but the message as often in Thailand 'lost in translation'.

Every Thai Hotel/Guesthouse is required by Thai law to fill in a TM-30 to notify local Immigration that a foreigner is staying at their premises. One of the fields that needs to be filled in on that TM-30 form is your current type of Visa. If they fill in Non Imm O, the IO TM-30 system will not overwrite the official address where you are residing in your province. But if the Hotel/Guesthouse makes a mistake and fills in Tourist Visa or VisaExempt, the IO TM-30 system will overwrite your official address with the Hotel one as that has now become your 'last known address in Thailand'. The result of such mistake is annoying, because you would then not be able to do your 90-day report on-line anymore as the Hotel address does not match with the original TM-30 address, that you want to confirm with the online 90-day report. Note: When your father has registered the address where you are staying on the IO TM-30 website, it will only take him 2 minutes to issue a new TM-30 that you returned at his premises, thereby correcting the Hotel/Guesthouse mistake. To check whether the Hotel/Guesthouse did the TM-30 notification correct ask them for a copy of that notification, and then you will know whether your father would need to correct it when you are once again at his place in case they messed up.

It's addressed in #2.2 of the attached TM-30 reporting regulation which became effective 30 June 2020. As long as you stay on an unbroken chain of a Permit to stay, you do not need to inform Immigration that you returned to your 'official address for immigration purposes'. So no need to do that after travelling domestically or even internationally (when using a Re-Entry Permit). TM30 reporting regulation _ effective dd 30-06-2020.pdf

If he did not have a bank-account, which is not necessary when the Permit to stay based on his original 1-year Non Imm O-A Visa did not expire yet, he obviously would not be able to apply for the 1-year extension of that Non Imm O-A Visa. Imo - but not knowing the full story with all details - it would have been far better for him to have exited Thailand in the final days of his Permit to stay, and do that at the Mukdahan border-crossing with Laos. The Savannakhet Thai Consulate is just over the Friendship bridge, and him being married to a Thai national could then have applied there for a 1-year MultipleEntry Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage. Such application does NOT require any proof of funds, and only needs a copy of his official Marriage certificate and his Thai wife accompagning him.

Yes it is now a good time to buy gold bars. Attached below the link to an article written by Michael SNYDER which is indirectly related to the topic in this thread (the link being that a pending crash of the financial system will have people looking for ways of protecting their wealth). https://www.2ndsmartestguyintheworld.com/p/the-banking-collapse-of-2023-is-now?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email Here the intro to the article: ~ Collectively, the three big banks that have collapsed in 2023 had more assets than all 25 banks that collapsed in 2008 did. Unfortunately, the banking collapse of 2023 is far from over. And here the concluding paragraphs of the - interesting - article ~ We really are on the verge of the largest commercial real estate crash in all of U.S. history. And as mountains of commercial real estate loans go bad, a lot more banks will start to go under. The “too big to fail” banks will scoop up those that they like, while others are simply liquidated and go out of existence. Ultimately, I believe that we are going to see a wave of consolidation in the banking industry like we never have before. We are still only in the very early chapters of this crisis. Much worse is yet to come. It is going to take a while for all the dominoes to fall, but each time another one tumbles over it will be a sign that the clock is ticking and that time is running out for the U.S. financial system.

Would your Visa-run result in you entering Thailand on a new Visa (or VisaExempt)? In that case, your official address for Immigration purposes needs to be renewed. But it is not YOU but the owner of the premises where you are staying (in your case your landlord) that is required according to Thai law to notify the local Imm Office within 24 hours that a foreigner is staying at the premises, and when failing to do so it is your landlord that might be fined by Immigration for not having done it. And it is only when you go to local Immmigration for a service (e.g. appliation for an extension of stay) that local Immigration would want to see a copy of the TM-30 notification done by your landlord, or alternatively you bringing a copy of the rental-contact and a signed front/back copy of the Thai ID-card of the owner. And you will not be fined when doing the above at a time convenient for you. NOTE: Why don't you simply register your address on the IO TM-30 website. That would allow you to issue your own TM-30 (or of any foreign staying at your place) after your return, without having to bother the landlord with it or needing to go to local Imm Office to notify them of your return. I did PM you a comprehensive Guideline document on how to do that.

That first statement is not fully correct, or rather it depends on how your local Imm Office deals with the matter. Some Imm Offices (like my local SiSaKet office) automatically re-new your 90-day report when applying for the 1-year extension. And when doing your 90-day report on-line during the last quarter of 1-year extension, your due date will not be 90-days after application but it will be capped to the expiry date of your 1-year permission to stay. That is actually very handy because if you do your 90-day reports in person you would not be confronted with a situation that you would have to go twice to Immigration, when the 90-day reporting window does not coincide with your 1-year extension of stay application date.

Hi Lemsta69, The point 5 in the "Notification of staying in the Kingdom over 90 days" document states: 5. The first application for extension of stay by the foreigner is equivalent to the notification of staying in the Kingdom over 90 days. Since he applied on Feb 1 the 90 day report would be due 90 days later.

In OP's case when visiting his local Imm Office is extremely inconvenient, making use of the on-line 90-day report option or sending it by mail are his 2 alternatives. Obviously doing it on-line is the easiest, but unfortunately when it does not work, you are already too late for doing it by mail (although there are reports of people that used the mail method when on-line didn't work, and it was approved even when they reported 'too late'). So I would suggest you do it by mail (if you are not already past due date). If you are past due date, you might indeed consider to just forget the whole 90-day reporting thing. When you have to visit your local Imm Office for your next 1-year extension, they will then fine you 2.000,- THB and that is irrespective how late you are (ranging from 1 day past 6-day grace period to almost 9 months). However if you are stopped by Police for any reason and they notice that your 90-day report has not been done, you will have to pay a 5.000,- THB fine (which can be augmented with 200 THB for every day past due date). As the risk for the above is small, there are indeed people that never do their 90-day reporting and when they apply for their 1-year extension then pay the 2.000 THB fine with a smile.

No crying over spilled milk, but instead of using an Agent to help him with the 1-year extension application of his Non Imm O-A Visa, it would have been easier for him to get rid of the Permit to stay from that Non Imm O-A Visa (by doing a border-run) and on return simply apply for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage at his local Imm Office. Yes, he would also have needed to open a Bank-Account for doing that, but when you are already on a Non Imm O or O-A Visa, he would have had no problem doing that at Kasikorn Bank (without the need for unnecessary insurance or a Residence Certificate as required by Bangkok Bank).