MangoKorat

I don't think you can actually say that - there is no 'situation normal'. The situation with denials comes and goes. Some seem to be able to do as many entries as they want, often back to back - then reports start coming in from people being denied. Its been that way as long as I can remember. People often post that they've been coming in for years on 30 day exempts with no problems - well good for them but such statements are not a lot of good to the guy stood at the booth being denied. Given the amount of entries per day, admittedly denials seem rare but then again, quite a lot of people I've spoken to have never heard of ThaiVisa or AseanNow so they won't be reporting here.

Very few places issue them now.

One thing I am sure of, they are out of order if they are requiring the 400k to be in a Thai account. The MENO is intended for people who don't live in Thailand. It would be wrong to expect them to have a Thai account. In fact - if you look at the requirements for a MENO, nowhere does it say in a Thai account - mixing the rules up with extensions of stay again. Next thing you know, they'll want it seasoning and a letter from your bank dated the same day as the application 😁.

Thank you - a 'little' more than 11,000 teachers then.

Of course I didn't but its usually pretty obvious from the way they are dressed and the laptop bag. Dashing around between 8:30 and 9am also sort of gives it away. Anyway, have it your way - there are more expats employed as teachers than anything else......OK?

I really doubt someone is going to want to do that and as far as I know, apart from Savannakhet and HCMC - most embassies and consulates no longer offer a 12 month MENO based on marriage.

True but when you get out in the boonies, very few shops for any brand have much experience of the bigger models.

Kawaski. I run an ER6N, I've had it for 5 years and I find it a lot of fun. I've had bikes all my life and my last bike in the UK was a ZX9. It took me a while to get used to the difference in power between my old ZX and the ER but I'm fine with it now. I wouldn't want to run a ZX9 in Thailand anyway, I'd be dead by now. I find the ER very well suited to Thai roads - especially with the wider Versys bars which provide a more comfortable riding position and more leverage when the unexpected pothole happens. Never had a problem getting spares but do my own servicing + the ER was made in Thailand. If you want a new bike, the ER was replaced by the Z650. They are however, both twins so don't run/sound as smooth as 4 cylinder bikes - hasn't bothered me. Love the bike to bits and wouldn't part with it.

I'd second that. Soi 11 has come on a lot in the last few years - the deeper you go, the better it gets. However, be careful down there, there's quite a large contingent of 'normal' Thai's there enjoying a (normal) good night out as well as the usual freelancers. So if you're not careful, you are just as likely to get your face slapped as you are to 'score' a freelancer. Soi 4 just isn't the same as it used to be and large parts of it are now being taken over by certain nationalities - attracting their compatriates as customers. If you want a good hour or two sampling the 'bar scene' - I find Cowboy to be much better. However, you really have to keep track of your spending when you're on Cowboy. I commented to a friend recently that the girls in the bars on Sukhumvit are nowhere near as pretty as they used to be 20 years ago when I first visited and they seem older. He replied "Yeah, its the same girls" 😁😁😁

In one office building!!! You might be surprised to learn that there are thousands of office buildings and businesses in Bangkok. I don't see anywhere like the amount of 'expat' teachers in Thailand as I used to do but whenever I visit areas like Silom, I see an awful lot of foreigners working in that area. Then you have to consider the Eastern Seaboard Automotive sector - the management of which contains a very high percentage of foreigners. In my area there is a very large foreign owned factory which also has a branch in Chonburi - again, most of the management are foreign. I used to work for a Dubai based construction/civil engineering company with offices throughout Asia - including Thailand. Our management consisted of 90% expats and that applied to our Bangkok office. Much of the construction industry (major projects) operate on the same basis - companies just cannot find enough qualified Thai staff. I wouldn't be confident enough to put a number on it but 11,000 seems a small amount to me and I would not be at all surprised if there were 3 or 4 times that number of foreigners working in areas other than teaching in Thailand.

You may think so and I would have previously agreed with you but there's an awful lot of foreigners working in Bangkok that are not teachers. One of my Thai friends is an office manager with a reasonable sized multi national and she tells me that there are over 100 foreigners in her building alone. Apparently they are well above the required foreigner to Thai employee ratio but they have an 'arrangement' with immigration. Part of her job involves administering that 'arrangement'. Thailand, the country where nothing is as it seems. 😁

If you enter the day before the visa's validity expires, you will be allowed to enter for the usual 90 day period. Provided your visa is based on marriage or a family visit, you can then extend it for a further 60 days. That would mean your 12 month visa had actually lasted 17 months: 12 + 3 + 2 If you are in the country already you would have to leave and re-enter to do that and you need to re-enter at least one day before the visa validity date expires not the same day. For a 60 day extension, your wife will have to go with you to apply or they will only give you 30 days. I'm not sure of the position if you are visiting family (not wife).

Not quite as clear cut as that: Item 1, Item 14. https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/page/84498-faq?menu=5d6636cd15e39c3bd00072ef Passport Validity Requirements https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/entry-requirements Visa Exempt Entry https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/thai-visas-americans/ Last year I had a trip to Thailand planned and would be arriving with 5 months left on my passport. I called the Thai embassy in London to ask if that was OK and was told that my passport must have 6 months remaining from the date or arriving in the country.

Bad but not quite that bad as a single entry can be extended by 60 days to 150 days. The people I feel really sorry for are the offshore workers who used a MENO as it was intended. They sometimes find it impossible to comply with the terms of the extension of stay route as their rotations don't allow time. Given these changes, first HCMC and now Savannakhet wanting financials, I think the days of being able to obtain a MENO at either location are numbered - they may go over to Evisa. What will the offshore workers do then?

Married can work on an O visa (subject to the usual criteria on prohibited occupations etc.), they don't need a B - just a work permit and only need an income of 40,000. Whereas those on B's who are not married need an income of 50,000.

I've heard of that before and it doesn't make sense. Given that the purpose of a MENO based on marriage is to allow those married to a Thai but not living there to visit their spouse, why would they be expected to have a Thai bank account? Quite a lot of guys who use MENO's genuinely, are offshore workers etc. - some maybe don't have a Thai bank account or choose not to leave large amounts in it. Probably a case of them applying the rules as they see fit again. I have a mate who had a similar problem once and finally sorted it through a lawyer who wrote to Korat Immigration pointing out that what they were asking for was not in the rules. The lawyer had to threaten them with court action before they backed down. Korat Immigration have lost battles with foreigners at least twice to my knowledge but it shouldn't come to that, if they choose to apply the rules, they should apply them fairly and correctly. What they are doing by requesting Thai bank statements is mixing up the rules for a MENO with those for a 12 month extension of stay - they are different animals.

Visas/extensions seem to be getting more and more difficult every year (unless you're Russian) - one day they will realise just how much we spend in Thailand - grey or not.

I presume the refusal was on the same grounds - financial?

As they are applying the same financial requirement as they do for a 12 month extension of stay - was there any mention of the monthly income method (40,000) being acceptable?

I don't understand what all the fighting is about. The OP's message is clear to me. For many years, some embassies/consulates have provided 12 Multi Entry Non O visas (MENO's) based on marriage to a Thai national with very little evidence required - especially financial. That list has gradually been dwindling - HCMC was the last one that I heard now require financial proof and now it seems that Savannakhet has gone the same way. They seem to be treating a MENO in the same way as they do for a marriage extension - financially. Its not surprising really as many have abused that visa and used it as a way of living in Thailand without providing financial evidence - not that I'm criticising that but it was in effect 'abuse'. The visa is intended for those who don't live in Thailand but make regular visits to their spouse. The question is, will they also accept the monthly income method of 40,000 per month?

The problem for me is - I won't even be starting until I'm over the Thai retirement age. I have a couple of pre-existing conditions that will probably push private health insurance out of reach. I was thinking that maybe the SS system might provide some cover but it seems not.

I know the ones you mean and I actually have a brass topped screw cap near the house end of my sewerage pipe. Its part of a very small inspection port. By the time the waste pipe gets nearer the tank it would probably be too deep to use that type.

Most recent footage does not indicate the type of missile that Israel has been using - a very small crater compared to shots of other Israeli 'hits'. There is very little structural damage to buildings - unlike the total devastation shown in other areas of Gaza that have been hit. A lot of fire damage - comensurate with rocket fuel from a device that hadn't travelled far. I keep an open mind but its not looking like Israel is the guilty party. The problem is - try telling that to a Palestinian. The ones shouting on TV made up their minds minutes after the hospital was hit. It wouldn't matter if a video emerged that showed the entire journey of the missile and proved it was fired from within Gaza. Their minds are made up. TV footage this morning showing Palestinians searching for bomb fragments - no doubt Hamas will give a press release showing photos of pieces of an Israeli missile tomorrow. The fact that such fragments are all over Gaza will matter not.

In other words - drunk or had some dodgy Thai weed.

Disgusting but not at all surprising - after all Thailand and Russia have a few things in common: Fake democracy. Huge corruption. Opposition often locked up on fake charges. Maybe he wants to learn how to murder disidents living in exile abroad and get away with it? Either this guy is stupid or he doesn't care that Putin is subject to an international arrest warrant and has no intention of carrying out any such arrest. The PM needs to think long and hard if this is a serious invitation, Thailand is already on thin ice over assisting Chinese companies to re-locate to Thailand to avoid sanctions. A visit by Putin and no arrest would very likely result in those sanctions being transferred to Thailand with a few more banged on top as a punishment. Thailand - always trying to ride 2 horses. However, top and botton of it - I doubt Putin will take a chance and accept the invitation with the price on his head.