MPoll

I get food poisoning more often here than in the US but still not very often. Almost every time I've gotten sick in Thailand it was from a brick & mortar restaurant often in a tourist zone. Never from street food. Once here at home when my wife's uncle prepared a duck dinner. And it is not just about westerners not being accustom to Thai bacteria. My wife gets it too on occasion. 

And I would say American food standards are way overblown. 

On another note - I keep plenty of frozen dishes in my freezer. My wife doesn't understand this practice and turns her nose up at it. When I make a pot of Mexican chili there is always 7-8 servings and it has to go into the freezer.

On 6/11/2023 at 2:27 PM, FruitPudding said:

- Peppers Bakery does a good apple pie and the "chunky beef pie" is good (the other beef pie is odd tasting).

 

Peppers makes their own Italian sausage which they use in several menu items. As an American it is spot on perfect. I've also bought the sausages to bring home to make a pasta sauce.

I sent my old passport to the BKK embassy from Sisaket province on June 21st and got it back 4 weeks and 3 days later. Got my LTR visa transferred to the new passport last Monday, Aug 7th.

59 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

I see a potential issue there: if for any reason we lose our LTR visa they might reverse to the OA rules, hence the need for a "worthless Thai health insurance"...

 

Ok, ok, clearly sinking too much.

That would be logical and fair. I’m not sure how we would lose the LTR but going back to your previous visa makes sense. Note that the OA was the only visa I’ve had in Thailand.
 

Also the LTR has an insurance requirement. The insurance I used for my OA qualified me for the LTR. As for the Thai insurance being worthless - I purchased my Thai insurance 10 million baht policy in 2018 before there was an OA insurance requirement. It costs me less than my previous US insurance.

9 hours ago, JimGant said:

Here's a question I recently asked LTR BoI:

 

Here's the prompt email response I received:

 

So, I can hire an agent to go to OSS to do the stamp transfers when my old passport is replaced with a new one; but I can't hire an agent to get my new five year permission stamp, 'cause Immigration needs me there, in person, to take a picture....

But why, as they say, do I need to go to Imm/OSS to get my second five year visa permission? Certainly, if they need a picture, this could be done at my home Chiang Mai Imm office. And, certainly, CM Imm has one of those square admit/until stamps, whereas they might not have the LTR Visa stamp that Imm/OSS has -- necessitating going to Bangkok to get that LTR Visa stamp transferred to a new passport.

 

So, when BoI re-authorizes my second five year stay, and issues a qualification endorsement -- flashing this endorsement to any Imm officer with a square permission of stay stamp should suffice. Heck, all the folks with LTR Evisas or stickers issued at Embassies never had to visit BoI/Imm OSS; they got their five year "until" stamp at the airport. And what if I'm out of Thailand when I have to get my new qualification endorsement from BoI? Can't I just, then, flash this endorsement at the airport, when I re-enter, and get my new five year stamp there, akin to what the Evisa and sticker folks did....?

 

Anyway, this will all sort out in the several years we have to do it in.

Five years is a long way off. I doubt the BOI knows what the procedure will be. They are just quoting today’s procedures.

LTR transfer experience 

I transferred my pensioner LTR to a new passport - my experience 

For the Americans out there - I sent in my old passport to the American embassy in Bangkok in June 2023. I sent it from Sisaket province. It was returned to Sisaket province 4 weeks and 3 days later.

I got my original LTR stamped into my passport on 4 January, 2023.

Today I arrived at the BOI office on the 18th floor at Chimchuri Square, when the office opened at 8:30am. 

I gave them 

• My old & new passports 
• My form to transfer my visa to a new passport 
• My BOI LTR endorsement letter 

The BOI asked me for the new passport linkage letter. I told them that the American embassy doesn’t provide those anymore. That apparently was acceptable.

The BOI made all the required copies of pages in my passports. They then gave me the package of documents and an immigration queue number 

Across the hall, at Immigration section E, I waited 30 minutes to turn in my documents. They were returned to me 1 hr 10 minutes later. I checked my stamps and also went back to the BOI office to ask if I had all the proper stamps.

A total of 2 hrs and all went smoothly.

My stamps

• Two stamps showing that I arrived in Thailand in 2017 on an OA visa
• Another showing I got my LTR in January with an initial permission to stay until 2024, the date my previous passport expired.
• The next stamp is my LTR  visa until December 2032. That appears to be the date the visa was approved. I didn’t come in to get the stamp in my passport until the next month, January, 2023.
• Another page of permission to stay stamps 2024 and 2028
• Next and final page is a permission to stay stamp from 7 Aug (today) until 4 Jan, 2028

I’m not sure what is going on with the Dec and Jan dates. When I get close to those dates I will ask some questions.

1 hour ago, JJJJJJJJ said:

Two questions:

1. For example, if you are granted the 10 year visa on 1 Jan 2023, but you enter Thailand on 1 April 2023, will the 5 year permit is from 1 Jan 2023 to 1 Jan 2028 or from 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2028? 

2. Unlike Elite visa, if at the end of the first 5 year permit, you can not qualify for LTR, for example, laid off or salary reduction, etc. will the second 5 year permit still be granted? if not, will BOI refund the visa fee? Since you paid 10 year visa fee at the first stage.  

#1 This is a little unclear to me. Read my next post about transferring my LTR to a new passport 

#2 Just a guess but I wouldn’t expect a refund.

13 hours ago, Pib said:

Log onto your LTR acct, click Check Status, under the Status column click on Print and a window will pop up offering two documents...each document is a one page memo with a one page attachment.  See snapshot at bottom.   Although they have different titles in the popup menu they are both the same document "except" the first one listed is in English and the 2nd one listed is in Thai.   That 2nd one is titled Report to Immigration Bureau which is probably what that #10 document is.....but take along the English version also.  

 

These documents are the all important Endorsement Letter....one in Thai and one in English....the foundation your LTR visa house was built on.  Save them to your computer....print them out and store them in a safe place....you never know if they will still be online in the future if you get locked out of your acct, the LTR server gets run over by a truck, etc.  Yeap....important LTR docs they are.

 

 

Wow! Got it. Thanks.

7 hours ago, Pib said:

 

I think #10 is not something provided by a person's home country embassy but the Endorsement Letter a person receives when BoI approves your LTR application.  A very important letter anyone with a LTR visa needs to keep in a safe place even after getting the LTR stamp/evisa LTR approval.....that Endorsement Letter is like the foundation to your LTR house and will be needed in the future for other LTR related things.  It can also be downloaded from a person's LTR online acct.  Now "maybe" when a "Thai Embassy" approves a person's evisa application based on an LTR visa they provide something like #10....I don't know....but I think #10 is just the BoI Endorsement Letter.

 

10. Notification letter of qualification endorsement which is addressed to the Immigration Bureau

 

 But a lot of these "how to do something" instructions are written in a generic, trying to cover many scenarios which ends up with steps/docs that do not apply to every person.

 

I told them I didn’t know what #10 was and they basically didn’t answer. I will look at my past documents and on the website. Thanks. They were helpful when I got my visa so if there is a document as you describe then I will ask someone in the BOI office to help me download it. 

22 hours ago, JimGant said:

As I'm sure you're aware, this link lists 10 items related to transferring your LTR stamp:

https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/transferring.html

 

Hopefully, the OSS Imm has gotten the word that the US Embassy no longer issues certificates related to transferring stamps from old to new passports. This seems to be a continuing problem at provincial Imm offices.

I asked them about #3 and #10 on the list. They said some embassies provide these and some don’t. I decided to go to with what I have and work it out from there.

20 hours ago, JimGant said:

Since most of us reading this, with in-country LTR stamps, will have to go through this drill -- could you please report on (assuming you interfaced first with BoI LTR, not Imm): Did BoI LTR folks hold your hand in this process, mainly in the interface with Immigration? Any surprises on paperwork required? Could you just "walk in," or would an appointment, or at least a before hand phone call, be advised? Any photos required during this process by Imm (if not, maybe I could have an agent do all of this for me...). Thanx.

Sure. I can tell you right now that they said I do not need an appointment. I plan to go to the BOI office early Monday morning to figure out what to do. They also have a list of forms & documents/copies needed. 

7 minutes ago, HaoleBoy said:

How long did it take you to get your new passport?

I keep hearing it is taking much longer these days ...

4 weeks 3 days 

I got my new passport through the US embassy in Bangkok.

I got my LTR in January and my new US passport a couple of days ago. I'm planning to go to BOI to get the LTR transferred to the new passport and I am expecting that I will get a permission to stay stamp to 5 years from January.

5 minutes ago, looplaw said:

Can anyone recommend a good photo shop in Bangkok for 

US Passport photos?

Just use Google maps to find a photo shop near you. Many do passport photos. 

I used a photo shop here in Sisaket province. It took a couple of minutes. I just received my new US passport a couple of days ago.

I arrived in Bangkok in 2017 with an OA visa. After Thailand implemented the health insurance requirement for OA visas I was required to have health insurance for my yearly extensions. I extended in the Bangkok Immigration office.

I had purchased Thai insurance before the health insurance requirement which qualified for the requirement so there was no practical change for me other than having to sync the dates of my insurance and extentions. This year I got an LTR visa and my insurance met that requirement as well. 

14 hours ago, oldcpu said:

Not having to do a 90-day report is handy.  Very much so.  My experience when on the Type-O and Type-OA visa making (over the years) of about 15 attempts (ie for each of the many 90-day reports I have done) with the on-line 90-day report system:  it worked for me 3 out of 15 times, and failed 12 out of 15 times.  12 times I had to go to immigration in person.  I could go on more about this (and what I tried and failed to have 'addressed" but I think my point was made). A one year report (which I may never have to do as I typically leave/re-entry Thailand a couple times per year), and the one-year is automatically extended for a year each time one enters Thailand.

 

When looking at the LTR visa I couldn't help but also consider all the times I had to file my 90 day report in person. Pre-Covid the flaky online system worked for me 2x. During Covid it didn't work for me at all. Finally the new system seemed to be better but I only got to use it once before I got my LTR. At least psychologically, not having to do 90 day reports is a bit of a relief for me.

7 hours ago, JackGats said:

You mean the original LTR applications? It wasn't. I just sent my LTR application 10 minutes ago. Along the way I read something to the effect it might be necessary to upload pages of an older passport upon request. Plenty of Thai stamps on the old passport. On the new one hardly any, everything summarised on the infamous "visa stamp transfer" from old to new.

I had a similar issue when I applied last October and they started processing in December. I think originally I just uploaded the data page. Then they ask for the entry stamp from my last entry. My last entry was Sep 2019. I finally figured out that they were thinking that I may have made some exit/entries during the Covid years. I decided to give them a copy of all the pages of my passport from Sep 2019 to the end of my passport including the remaining 4 blank pages. That satisfied them. So I would consider sending them every page of your passport. 

22 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Yes, no matter what regime I'm on - OA, O or LTR - I still at my age need & want the same highish level of insurance cover.  Which means there's no point - for me - in going through the rigmarole of changing from OA to O.

 

As to the LTR & variants, I keep them in mind but am a bit sceptical of the benefits and of long-term financial commitments within the Thai cultural & political bubble.

I eventually decided that the LTR was a little more expensive than the OA but not by much. Now that I have it I have to say that psychologically it really feels good to not have the reporting or bank requirements. 
 

I already had the insurance covered because of my previous OA. I also believe in insurance regardless of whether it is an OA or O but not having your visa tied to your insurance seems to me give people a little more flexibility. My insurance strategy is to have a high level of coverage and a high deductible. I only plan to use the insurance for something serious. My costs are a little less than what I was paying in the US.

 If someone is going to worry about Thailand changing visa requirements in the future then you might as well worry about all the visa categories. Western countries change immigration policies as well.. We all accept that risk when we move overseas.

18 hours ago, mfd101 said:

I wish. More complex for me (O/A as mentioned). Used to take an hour, now anything up to 3 hours depending on 'traffic' and how many new queries they can dream up (always about the bank papers).

The only difference between an O and OA extension is the insurance certificate.

Consider looking into the 10 year LTR if you qualify. It requires insurance but if you are already on an OA you’ve got that covered.

Way back in 2017 I submitted documents that showed I met both criteria. I don’t know which they used or both but I got my visa with no questions asked. 

All throughout Covid, for about 2 years, I was unable to do my 90-day report online. The system wouldn't let me do it. I kept a PDF of the TM47. I changed the dates and printed it out and Immigration took it and processed it. So I would say that if you file in person print out the form otherwise do it online. The new system, after Covid, seems to be more reliable. 

Another thing though . . . why even ask the question? Just print out the form with current information. How hard can it be? You have it if you need it. No harm and little cost if you don't. 

Regarding what happens in 5 years I am saving tax forms and insurance certificates for the first 5 years with the expectation that they may ask whether I met the initial terms throughout the first 5 years. When I applied in Oct I only needed to supply my most recent tax return. My understanding is that applicants now have to supply the 2 previous year tax returns. In 5 years will they ask for the previous 5 years tax returns? I remember asking them if they will check whether I have insurance and they said no at the time but will they check to see if I maintained my insurance? I don't have to worry about my pension income. That won't change.

On 6/6/2023 at 8:15 PM, Mike Teavee said:

What folks with an income of $80,000 a year? 

For those of us over 60 we started working during a time when pensions were more common. If you stuck with a company or industry for 30+ years it is reasonable to expect that a work pension or work pension + Social Security (US citizens) can be above $80k/year. Particularly for those have rose to management level positions.