Rob Browder

Not completely useless. If one is flying into Thailand's BKK airports, and staying in Thailand most of the time, one is less-likely to be denied-entry with a Tourist-Visa than Visa-Exempt. The visa costs less than paying the "guaranteed entry" agent ~3K per entry. That said, if staying in Thailand "too much" (undefined), one probably needs to pay the airport-agent service, regardless. See what they did to this guy with a METV - and he wasn't even doing same/next-day bounces out and back: https://aseannow.com/topic/1318940-metv-effectively-rescinded-at-don-mueang/

The "odds" say it is unlikely you would be denied entry. That said, I would never fly into Thailand with a long-stay tourist-type-entry history. Having a Tourist Visa would improve your odds considerably, though I personally would still not risk it. Coming from Hong Kong would not change this - other than a shorter-flight back there, vs Finland, if denied-entry. There is no way to know what daily "marching orders" will be given to the IOs on-duty when you arrive. If flying to a neighboring-country and entering by-land is too inconvenient, there is a way to enter by-air without worry - a process which is apparently what airport-immigrant are after with all this hassling: https://aseannow.com/topic/1336926-setv-metv-still-around-now-that-visa-exempts-are-now-60-days/?do=findComment&comment=19217493

This is what they did in my case, when I was on a Non-O-ME Visa based on marriage to a Thai. Practices can vary from one labor-office to another, and over time, however.

It is really sad they give you any grief at all when entering, if you only stay 5 days each visit, given they can can see that in their system. As well, the Visa-Exempt rules now state that visiting Thai family is a VALID use of VE entry. I doubt a supervisor would deny-entry in the future, in your case, but up to you if you want to continue dealing with their hassling. If your wife can get away, you could take a trip with her to Savannakhet, and get a 1-Year Multiple-Entry based on marriage to a Thai. To qualify, you would need to show 400K in a Thai bank in your name for 2 months. Much better than only 3 months with a TR Visa. Note that one needs to schedule an appointment at Savannakhet.

When/if a limit is imposed, the agents running the vans will know first, and it will be reported here. Predicting the future with immigration - and the variations between offices and entry-points - is a guessing-game. We only know what "has happened" / "is happening now," in most cases.

They do this for both retirement and marriage-based Non-O Visas in the Jomtien office. Many have experienced the person in that little side-office showing a piece of paper with 15.000 Baht on it, then tearing it up. Perhaps they only take money via the agents, now. They have been allowed to break the rules on this since before I arrived over a decade ago. I went to Laos for my Non-O, instead. I was then punished / blocked on my 1-year extension by the "family-extension" crew asking for "additional documents" repeatedly at every application - so I went back to Laos and got a Non-O-ME Visa (only available for marriage-based). Jomtien is a good office for retirement extensions (not the initial visa) and tourist extensions - but horrible for Non-O Visas and Thai-marriage extensions.

That is incorrect information, unless you have a source I have not seen for Trump using Ivermectin - preferably from the White House or his treating-doctor. Trump used HCQ for 2 weeks, as a prophylactic, then announced he quit using it - that being long before he later caught covid. Trump was treated for covid with "monoclonal antibodies", which was a very effective treatment (but hard to scale-up), until the Omicron variant, when it ceased being helpful. Rather than citing a single study, see a full and complete list of ALL the studies done on HCQ, Ivermectin, and everything else, here: https://c19early.org/ Note that many treatments were only shown to work if given early in the illness - in the first days of symptoms or as a prophylactic, yet many studies ONLY tested them on people who were very sick when treatment started - after being hospitalized. The data for each study must be examined for context.

I doubt he can read beyond a 4th grade level, yet he actively-meddled in the FDA's approval process (and bragged about it). We need to shame-force presidential-candidates to take the GRE or similar.

Thank you for the detailed reply. I am aware of when Russia entered the ongoing conflict, which began with the Coup in 2014. Ukraine was (again) violating Minsk, by shelling Donbass - as they had over and over - but, this time, clearly preparing for another offensive. The Minsk agreement was binding on Ukraine and the "breakaway" areas, which had refused to accept the anti-ethnic-Russian Coup'd government installed. It was only "in pieces" because Ukraine refused to honor it. And, again, Merkel ADMITTED it was just a ruse from the start, after she left her PM position. As to the "EU" trade-block - the issue was that they wanted Ukraine to join, but Russia said this would invalidate their free-trade agreement with Ukraine by allowing European products to flow through. The then-president of Ukraine was aware that wrecking their huge and beneficial trade-relationship with Russia was not a good option, and began to look for a middle-ground. The coup was launched at this point. NATO expansion was something else entirely, and Ukraine's stated intent to join NATO - plus saying they wanted nukes - was a huge escalation. As to the INF treaty - those so-called "defensive" missiles can easily become both offensive and nuclear. From your linked-article: Russia denied the accusation and President Putin said it was a pretext for the US to leave the pact. Forgive me if I do not trust "We Lied, We Cheated, We Stole" Pompeo's word on this - from the same "intelligence" which put non-existent WMDs in Iraq to start that war. Russia claimed the maximum firing range is 480 kilometers and, as the fuel cannot be changed in the field, the produced missiles could not be modified to a higher range. They even offered the USA to come inspect, which was rebuffed. The USA had no business meddling in the Nord-Stream-II pipeline - was primarily between Germany and Russia, and other EU states could deal with Germany on it. You could point out, "Well, at least Trump didn't blow it up" - which is true. As to the lethal aid - it was much more than just the Javelins: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/09/25/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-us-aid-package-to-ukraine-that-trump-delayed/ ... and Javelins are not necessarily "defensive," any more than their tank / APC targets are - though both can be used for defense. My primary point, is that Trump ran on a peace platform, and delivered exactly nothing of the sort. There was some hope with N-Korea, but he blew that up by hiring infamous arch-neocon Bolton, who wrecked that hope by saying we would handle them "Like Libya" (see how that worked out for Gadaffi).

You are welcome. The accountant handling this may or may not know you can get a work-permit on a Non-0 marriage-based permitted-stay. I say this is preferable, because your permitted-stay is not invalidated by losing your work permit / job in the future. With a Non-B, it is. The Dept-of-Labor will be fine with it - only care you are being paid the minimum-required salary - not what your bank-balance is.

100K locked-up is not ideal. It seems to me, the regular Non-O retirement - no insurance required - has far less hassle and total-cost. One could pay an agent to file one's extension every year, if that once-a-year trip to the bank and immigration is a problem. OTOH, it could be worth it, if you save more on not paying taxes on remitted-income - assuming the income being remitted is not already protected by a double-taxation treaty, or earned / saved before Jan, 1, 2024.

The work-permit comes from the Dept-of-Labor, not immigration. You can get a work-permit on a Non-O ME-Visa, provided it is based on marriage to a Thai (not retirement). The first time they give you the WP valid for 3 months only - then you go back and extend it for 1-year. If you switch to a 1-year extension-of-stay (based on marriage to a Thai) from Immigration, you would need to show you had 400K in your account for 2 months prior to applying for it. Some remote provinces require you to show the 400K for 3 months before application. You would not need to show the 400K again until the next year. In either case, provided your permitted-stay is based on marriage to a Thai, you qualify for a work-permit. A change to a Non-B would not be needed or desirable.

Some recent reports indicate they are not any more lenient at the airports with longer-stay visitors on tourist-type entries than before. Those with longer-stay histories would be wise to use their "service" for this: ... or stick to entering by-land - unless/until it goes beyond a "one night out" rule.

Can you be specific on what you think I got wrong?

Trump says lots of stupid things, yes. He never suggested "injecting bleach," as some claimed, but what he did say at that press-conference showed he could not pass Biology 101. Trump never mentioned Ivermecitin - to this day, that I have seen. Note that HCQ was called a "curative" in leaked govt-documents from April 2020**, and it is quite possible then-president Trump learned this, while it was still classified. One can see/review all of the medical studies for these and other substances, here - you be the judge of what actually worked, and did not. Make a mental-note of which were "on patent" and "off patent" - and which were actively-used, vs what was shown to actually work / not-work: https://c19early.org/ Also an early study using HCQ, used to discredit it, was pulled by the Lancet for fraud: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine/truly-sorry-scientists-pull-panned-lancet-study-of-trump-touted-drug-idUSKBN23B31W/ Trump announced to the press that he quit taking HCQ two weeks in, after it was demonized by that later-retracted study. The smear-study had served its purpose. ** This information was leaked by a member of the USMC, and remarked upon by Senator Ron Johnson here: https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/2022/1/senator-johnson-demands-answers-from-dod-on-disclosure-about-covid-19-origins-and-early-treatment

I also favor peace and USA non-interference in foreign conflicts. Unfortunately, Trump did not end a single conflict, in which the USA was engaged - after hiring Neocon staff - and he escalated with Russia in Ukraine as POTUS - consistently. Obama** refused to send lethal-aid to Ukraine, but Trump did, and has bragged how what he sent was used to kill Russians. Trump also withdrew from the INF Treaty on medium-range nuke-capable missiles, which would have been placed in Ukraine, within striking-distance of Moscow. He also withdrew from the "open skies" treaty. Dismantling these firewalls to war was "short-sighted," to use a polite term. Trump never ordered Ukraine to follow the Minsk Agreements, in exchange for receiving aid, which would have prevented the war. Neither did co-signatories Macron or Merkel - with Merkel admitting later, it was just a ruse to buy time to build up Ukraine's army for war. Trump increased sanctions on Russia, including blocking the Nord-Stream II pipeline. That economic bridge to Europe was beneficial to maintaining a reason for peace, as well as keeping energy costs low in Europe (to spite their idiotic "green" energy-policy), to facilitate their (now wrecked) manufacturing base. ** To be fair, the Coup of 2014 with the CIA and Gloria Nuland (Neocon Team I.S.W. / Kagan) was under Obama's watch - I am not a fan. But he did correctly state that Russia had "escalatory dominance" in Ukraine - why he refused to send lethal-aid - a perspective which has been proven correct. They also had 'surge capacity' for war-production, which we did/do not.

Yes - 100% Fake story/investigation, which was begun by Republicans to use in the R-Primary. It's lack of substance was proven, beyond all doubt, when the closed-door Congressional testimony from Crowdstrike was released - when they admitted they had no evidence of a Russian hack of the DNC. But note - Without Russiagate, the Trump voting base would have been raising hell over him trashing everything they had just voted for - vs rallying to his defense, because of the "Russiagate attack" on him. Also note - The "investigation" was running out of steam when Trump said on-camera that he fired FBI-Director Comey over Russiagate - contradicting his lawyers' legal-reason, and creating the basis to run with an "obstruction" charge. The "indictments" during the R-Primary this cycle served a similar function. Whether one believes this was a "conspiracy" or not, the result is the same - Trump's POLICIES were ignored by the Republican base, in favor of sensational stuff.

Let me know when Kamala takes the "means of production" away from the Rulers - who pay for her campaigns, and the Republicans' campaigns - and hands it to the workers. Does anyone think Larry Fink of Blackrock is worried? "Cultural Marxism" is another thing, but the Republicans now support 90% of that agenda, so no help there.

Of course not. There was a time when the DNC supported American labor, but that went away under Bill Clinton's tenure. Until Trump in 2016, neither party's candidate even said they would meaningfully help American labor. McCain and Romney played the old "Jobs Americans Won't Do" bit, which we did until the day we were replaced at less than 1/2 our former wage. The Democrats promised more "safety net" help for those de-employed / impoverished. At most, they promised re-training for "Jobs of the Future," but then gave the new careers away via Visas and Outsourcing, just like the ones before.

On the contrary - "economic globalization" = "policies." There was nothing "inevitable" about it. Without any new law from Congress, or breaking any court-precedent: Trump could have stopped the foreign-worker Visas. He could have re-started enforcing the Felony prohibiting employing illegal-alien workers. He could have used the "POTUS may ban any alien or class of aliens" law (no "exceptions" to this) to shut-down the "caravan" surge. He could have put tariffs on Mexico (he promised 35%) instead of signing another NAFTA. He could have recalled American forces from a slew of foreign engagements / bases which do not benefit the American people (saving hundreds of billions in inflationary-spending). He could have kept his promise to release anonymized HMO data for analysis of correlations between childhood vaccinations and severe-allergies and autism - proving that one way or the other with solid-data, vs smaller studies and anecdotal evidence. Trump CHOSE, instead, to align himself with those opposed to ALL of that.

You have to understand, until fairly recently, anyone willing to show up and work a full-time job had a good life in the USA. When that ended, many people could not cope. They voted for Trump, who promised to reverse the GOVERNMENT POLICIES which directly impoverished them - the primary factors being the mass-immigration of people willing to work for MUCH lower wages flooding the labor-pool, and "free" trade which sent their careers overseas - but Trump did the opposite of what he promised. Combined with his massive deficit spending (continued by Biden) - which caused today's inflation - they are now WORSE off. "But WHY?" they ask. And Trump needs them to vote for him, again, to spite stabbing them in the back. Enter the conspiracies.

How else COULD it be? Trump threw everything he promised in 2016 in the garbage-can, as soon as he won the election that year. The "Russiagate" bit made an effective cover for him, as he trashed it all, and hired ONLY those opposed to everything he had just promised - but, some sort of rationale was needed for why he didn't do anything he promised. Enter "Q" - where betrayal became "5D-Chess" and "Trust the Plan." The alternative was for his supporters to admit they had been conned by a liar - a tough pill for many to swallow. Over time, the "Q" phenomenon was taken to absurd levels - especially given his open-partnership with Bill Gates, praise for Klaus Schwab / WEF, Lindsey Graham, Anti-2nd-Amendment position, pro-Amnesty for illegals position, etc - all diametrically-opposed to everything his supporters thought he "stood for." The most intriguing aspect, is that many anti-Trump people believe the SAME THINGS about Trump as his supporters - only they oppose those Q-fantasy positions.

Open any bank accounts you need - including "checking" accounts may be possible.

If you get the Non-O from a Visa-Exempt or Tourist entry in Thailand, then you get the 90-day visa at immigration first, (2 visits for this, with an "under consideration" period between them), then you return again to apply for the 1 year extension. If they let you simply change the reason for your permitted stay from work (Non-B) to marriage or retirement (Non-O), then it's just one "step." Whether they will do this (like they always did before) is not clear, and may depend on the office. If they do not let you make this change in-country, then you will need to leave/return with a border-run. In that case, I would personally just get the 90-day Non-O in Laos, vs doing that step in Thailand - but you could do it either way. Note that no funds are required for a 90-day Non-O based on marriage at Vientiane or Savannakhet - but, the 1-year Multiple-Entry version at Savannakhet does require showing 400K in a Thai bank for 2 months. That ME-Visa gives you 90-day permitted-stay per-entry for the year, requiring border-bounces. You may also extend your permitted stay on any new entry to Thailand by 60-days "to visit your wife" - regardless of whether a TR, VE, or Non-O entry. In theory, you could do this from the cancellation date on your Non-B permitted-stay - but, I would ask this after you complete canceling your Non-B stay. Your wife must attend immigration to get that 60-days. Canceling the visa-extension first would not make a problem at Immigration. Canceling the Work-Permit first COULD create a problem with immigration, as your Non-B permitted-stay would become "Invalid" when the WP was canceled. You could be charged "overstay" for every day after the work-permit cancellation that you remained in Thailand on a Non-B permitted-stay.

You are talking about the "Kor Ror 2" form, showing you are still married. "COR," in this context, is an abbreviation of the English words, "Certificate of Residence."