Rob Browder

In the USA, it was still an average age of mid-80s, and 3+ co-morbidities. In other words, people who were already dying. The difference in death-rates vs other countries had a lot to do with: 1) "CDC Guidelines" for covid treatment - literally the worst possible advice - send old people with covid home, and tell them to do nothing but take paracetamol until their lips turned blue, then call an ambulance. The hospital protocols were also the inverse of what would save lives. These ignored the known information at the time from more-successful treatment protocols, which were demonized by the Media and medical establishment, who are literally paid by Pharma, who had no interests in safe "off patent" treatments, which were proven to work. 2) High diabetes rates, and general bad-health across the USA population. The more unhealthy one is when dealing with an infection, the worse the probable outcome.

I can see the point with Europe - especially given no reason for NATO to exist after the USSR + Warsaw Pact dissolved. Funny, though, how to spite the massive and growing national-debt, Israel gets more and more free tens of billions in "aid," plus deploying military-backup costing many billion more, every year - and they just happen to have a PAC (not registered as a foreign-agent) which donates heavily to almost everyone in Congress, and to Trump's campaign. You get what you pay for, apparently - and with a huge ROI on those "donations." The "DOGE" savings could never hope to recoup those ongoing losses, so don't hold out hope for paying down debt, or DOGE refund-checks.

Ok - so that isn't it - my first guess doesn't fit. But there is a big clue in that X-post: The steel used in the construction of the collapsed State Audit Office building in Chatuchak came from Sin Ker Yuan, a company which was charged in January for producing substandard steel. Previous investigation by the Ministry of Industry revealed that the rebar produced by the company, located in Ban Khai District, Rayong, did not meet required standards, particularly affecting its strength.

Provided you have proof of a flight-out, which is required, I have not heard of any case of denied-entry. This has been allowed for decades. I did read some reports regarding applying for extensions - one does have to actually answer some basic questions now about where you live, and how you support yourself. This change was the result of a directive. Before, you just "went through the motions," paid your money, and done. The folks discussing this stressed the importance of being polite in this process - then, no problem. There are three "Plan B" countries in the region I keep in-mind, where longer-stays are not a problem: Cambodia, Philippines, and Laos. Cambodia and Laos have 1-year "official visa" solutions which cost about the same as an Agent-procured 1-year extension for retirement in Thailand - in the ~$350 ballpark per-year. The cost is only a bit higher if below retirement age.

While poor-design is certainly to be suspected and studied - for those in older buildings, keep in mind: Concrete hardens over time - not "all at once." Years later, it is still getting harder every year. Therefore, a 2+ year-old building is significantly stronger than this one, even if built with similar flaws in design. Damage has been reported in older-buildings, but they did not collapse. My first guess, was that it is possible they were rushing - adding new pours, before previous ones had cured enough to support the weight added. It is also possible that pours which should have been contiguous were not. My next question would be the quality of the steel rebar. Of course, it could come down to simply a poorly engineered structural-design.

A "bad day" could mean "needs to fill his quota of denied-entries." Maybe he just got chewed-out by the boss, and his tea-money threatened, by not denying entry to "enough" people - reminded that denying-entry is what generates the tea-money. Wise move to go with safe-entry, if you have significant time (subjective) spent in Thailand in the last year or so. Agree - but would clarify to, "insufficient to be allowed-in again without paying tribute." That's all they really want. If no one was "staying too long," they would be heartbroken. They would be pushing to cut visa-exempt entry to 7 days, if that's what it took to get the tea-money flowing, again. The silly excuse to go back to 30-days for everyone, vs only the countries of the bad-actors, could be due to this.

Not fanboy, or really caring about peace in Ukraine, or he would not have re-started the aid which keeps the war going - though the outcome will not change. It's over - just a question of how many more people will die before the end is "official," and whether Ukraine will have to cede even more territory, as a result of further delay. Agree Putin's decision to invade was not to do with Trump. In his first term, Trump increased sanctions, started lethal-aid, and unilaterally withdrew from long-standing arms-treaties with Russia. I am not an Obama fan, but he was right that "Russia has escalatory dominance in Ukraine" - just as the USA would have, if the situation was regarding Mexico - which is why he refused the lethal-aid. The timing was because Ukraine was firing up a new offensive (shelling already started) - after refusing to follow the Minsk Accords* - and after more talk about Ukraine joining NATO and abandoning their non-nuclear stance. * (Ukrainian "nationalists" told Zelesnky they would not withdraw artillery - on video) All Trump or Biden had to do to prevent this war, was to tie any further aid to following Minsk, but they chose to ignore it- as did the German and French co-signatories, and the UN-Sec-Council, which had also signed-off. The French and Germans later admitted Minsk was just a ruse to buy time, to build up the Ukrainian military for attack.

You mean, doing the exact opposite of what he promised - just like the last time he was POTUS? I got the message by the end of 2017. But, evidently, many of those who said they supported the POLICIES he ran on (both times), yet STILL "support" him, do not have any principled positions - any more than Trump ever did. It's all "Rah, Rah, my team," and eating-up the North-Korea flavored, syrupy praise from every member of the administration - truly nauseating.

It would seem necessary for them to do this, to explain the 6-Mo permitted-stay they were stamping in the new passport, referring to a visa, which referenced the old passport. As well, I would be surprised if they did not link the old/new passports in their system when presented both of them upon entry. it will be interesting to get a 1st hand report. Please let us know what happens when you enter, @shdmn - though I would carry that old passport for every subsequent entry with that eVisa, regardless of what they stamp/write in the new passport.

A video was recently posted by someone denied-entry entering by air. Six-weeks into his 60 day VE entry, he flew out to the UK to see family - stayed for 15 days - then flew back. He was told by the I/O this was a "border run" to spite using less than 1/2 of his last entry's potential stay (60+30), being gone 15 days, and having a paid flight-out (a real ticket). Obviously, a "border runner" would have stayed the full-duration, then made a safe bounce to Cambodia - not flown all the way to the UK. A contact in Thailand he reached while in airport-detention could not reverse the denied-entry, but set up "safe entry" on his return (cost unspecified). Upon his immediate return, he was met by an IO off the plane, taken to an empty immigration booth, and stamped in. He does not state how much time he spent in Thailand last year, but mentioned a condo contract, which gives an indication. Anyone spending significant time here would be wise to use agent-help to enter Thailand - especially entering by air - and even more-so if flying from far away. What a Nightmare!!

Travelers checks are OK, too. I was using those, back in my tourist-entry days. Should only be 10K for Visa-Exempt - but better to have 20K, if worried. In addition to the wild-variance with IOs, how they treat you depends on your longer-term history in Thailand - not just how long since you last left (45 days, in your case). This is reflected in the cost of the "safe entry," at least with some providers. The service I saw advertising here was less - though also varied by history. I would guess you would be at the lower-end of the scale, given you are not doing a quick "bounce" back:

The way the 7-day extension works, one must leave once you get one - no other extension possible, after that. Hopefully the 21-day version from the BOI is different - but do let us know your experience.

I didn't know agents used that BKB branch. My guess, is they are often busy due to: 1) BKB closed a ton of branches, so the remaining ones are packed often, now. 2) It's a convenient branch for those getting their legit-paperwork for Immigration. But, thanks for the heads-up that some agents are switching banks - best if folks don't put off their extensions until the last-minute.

So, they won't change the policy for countries where the pay-rate is multiples of that in Thailand, right? Only change the policy for those with a MOTIVE to work-illegally in Thailand? This would be the sane policy.

Take a letter from your employer stating your last day of work to immigration before your job ends. They will change your permitted-stay to end on that date. Then, you can apply for an extension based on marriage. The office-policy will determine whether you can do this without having to leave the country and return. The work-permit is an issue with the labor-office, and your employer should handle this. EDIT - you can have a work-permit with a Non-O based on marriage, so no reason you would need to cancel it to qualify for the extension.

Be aware: The first 12-mo extension you get from a Non-O Visa must be for the same reason as the visa was issued. If you start with a Non-O Visa based on retirement, you could go straight to a 12-mo extension based on retirement.

The only "trouble" is if you don't pay immigration via their agents, while staying longer-term as a tourist. You can agent-van, or even fly in no problem - over and over visa-exempt - if you pay for their agent service for the entry-point. The whole "are not a tourist" bit is just part of the rhetoric to support this racket. You are doing nothing "wrong" by staying and spending more money into the Thai economy. There is no legal-limit on time spent in Thailand "as a tourist" - just cannot work illegally, or commit other crimes, of course. Nong Khai was formerly a crossing which were known for no-hassle in/outs. They have recently adopted a 2-day-out policy. I have not seen a report that agents serve the crossing yet, but that will likely happen soon. It took a little while for agent-service to be set-up to provide same-day returns from another crossing to Laos (near Chaing Mai) after they implemented the "2 nights out" rule. Given your location, a border-run to Cambodia is the easiest/quickest solution. I have seen no reports of "agent-assisted visa-run failure" - so, yes, reliable.

OK - you have a permitted-stay issued in Thailand - not a "visa." In that case, the permitted-stay ends when your job ends. If BOI will do a 21-day extension, that is good. I do not know how a "BOI extension" affects the ability to change to a different permitted-stay in-country. Recent posts indicate transfer to a Non-O w/o leaving the country not possible without an agent - but you can always ask.

If possible, it would be done via the MFA, who issues Visas. They have been known to make corrections on visas - unknown if they would help with this case, however.

... and "proof of payment," so cannot use "rent a ticket" services. Note they also say return to passport-country ticket, which does not follow official regulations (ticket to anywhere outside Thailand should be OK). They are making this up, to encourage use of their agent-service partners - at which point, NONE of the requirements are enforced - similar to many extensions in-country. Although one is unlikely to have all those "requirements" enforced at most crossings, anyone making a border-run without an agent-service should be prepared to stay out 2+ nights, be able to purchase a fully-refundable ticket to their passport-country, and able to purchase a hotel-booking in Thailand, if/when demanded. Also, have the 10K baht worth of cash to show. "I left my money-cards with my wife/gf," or "in my condo" or whatever won't cut it. Prepare for the worst, and be pleasantly-surprised if things are easy. That is my strategy with EVERY interaction with Thai immigration - even for "no problems reported" things. "Expected Outcomes" not being met is a source of stress and disappointment, so don't set yourself up to suffer, folks. Always have a "Plan B," and a "Plan C." Don't "expect" fairness, consistency, or compassion - EVER.

... and selling 60-day Tourist Visas. A better solution would have been returning India and China to 15-day VOA (addressing their 'criminals" concern), and making the TR Visa 90-days. Oh well. It seems really simple to deal with the "illegal working" problem - just set the policies based on the ratio of the Thai minimum-wage versus the visitors' countries. If the visitor country's min-wage is nearly the same, then 30 days. if it is lower - 15-day VOA. If it is multiples higher, 90-days or more.

Ok - so you are currently on a 90-day permitted-stay from Non-B Visa obtained abroad? In that case, you have until the "permitted stay" stamped in your passport for that visa-entry, regardless of when your job/work ends. If this is the case, I do not know why BOI was advising about this, since you did not get an extension-of-stay from them. I have never heard of a "21 day extension," either. The "7 days to leave the country" - yes - but after that, no extension in Thailand is possible. I would ask your local Immigration office what they need for you to apply for a non-O based extension for Thai-family, using your 400K seasoned bank-money. If they will do it from your current permitted-stay, you are set.

Yes, with every "crackdown," immigration has expanded or price-increased their agent-partner services.

Come on a Non-O, so you can easily open a bank-account. Get a 60-day extension to "visit Thai family" if you need that extra 60-days to get your 400K in the bank and "seasoned" for 2 months. Note that the "agent service" which can involve a bank-account assistance is generally for retirement-type extensions - few will help with thai-family type extensions, and for those that do, it is more expensive than retirement-based. And, you would pay more for that service-package, than the cost of a Non-O 90-day Visa from your home-country + 1900 baht 60-day extension from immigration.

Non-O Retirement does not allow working in Thailand. If over 50, and work / income does not involve Thailand, and all earnings are deposited into a foreign account, I would stick with Non-O Retirement vs DTV. If under 50 and w/o Thai family, the DTV is a great option.